Chapter 19 #2
He thought that Donnal and Jack could work well together; they were both kind of growly.
Mercury? Mercury, hon, where are you?
He rolled his eyes. I’m down here talking to Donnal in the med bay. What do you need?
Kami chuckled. Oh good. That’s who I wanted to talk to!
Oh? Did you find him a stone? Mercury almost bounced, but that would jiggle the baby, so he tossed over another cupcake instead.
I did. And so I’m bringing Cain. So that we can get this dealt with.
That was perfect. He didn’t tell Donnal though because he thought maybe the guy would get nervous and he didn’t want that. He wanted to be able to just sort of get it all over with at once. Boom, bang, done.
So Mercury made small talk until Kami and Cain walked into the med bay. He also fed Dannol a couple more cupcakes because he was going to need his strength. Getting a new stone was a tough process.
Dannol raised his brow ridges, his eyes starting to glow, as he looked at Kami and Cain. “What is going on?”
“We have a new stone for you, Dannol.” Cain smiled gently, as he did most of the time. “I hope you’re going to like it.”
“I picked it out specifically for you,” Kami said. “That’s what Talon and I were just doing. We had to go get it.”
Mercury frowned just a tiny bit. “Is my mate okay?”
“He’s fine. He’s actually on his way, just in case we need some physical help.” Kami looked at Dannol with a wry expression. “Sometimes, this is kind of painful, and it takes a couple of other dragons to hold someone down.”
“Yes, unfortunately, bonding with a new stone is much harder when we’re adults than it was when we were babies. The older we are, the harder it is. It also doesn’t help that you’re an alpha, not an omega.” Cain spread his hands as if to apologize. “But I do hope you’ll allow us to help.”
“You can trust them,” Mercury told Dannol. “They helped me get my stone. It was hard, but it was so worth it.”
Smoke curled out of Dannol’s nose. I want to trust all of you, but I’m not sure I can. It’s been a very long time since I could trust anyone, and I’m feeling heart sore.
“You can do it. I know you can. You’re a fine braaken,” Cain said.
Dannol eyed Cain, as if weighing him. Very well. I can try.
“I’m very proud of you.” Mercury beamed at Donnal. “It’s going to suck at first, but it’s going to be great afterward.”
Talon came in, staring at them all. “It’s going to suck, but I watched Mercury go through it, and I’ve been through it myself. I did it without a mate. I still think his was worse. It’s sort of like swallowing fire.”
Dannol grinned, showing his teeth and trying to be brave. I can handle that.
“Mercury, you stay back. I don’t want you getting bumped or battered in any sort of way.” Cain smiled at him. “I have to protect our pregnant omegas.”
“Or you could just protect all the omegas.” Kami winked at him and then held up a chunk of rough ruby. The stone was big and looked incredibly heavy.
As soon as Donnal laid eyes on the stone, it began to shine with a fire inside.
Kami beamed and waggled his eyebrows. “Yep, this is the one!”
Do you mean it? Donnal stared at Mercury. You really mean it? That this can all be real? That I can come home?
Mercury nodded and ran up to Donnal to hug the big dragon’s neck. “I mean it! We’re going to be friends. You’re going to have an apartment, your hoard, a life, and food. You’re going to be able to fly. And you’ll have your stone. I promise this is better than being locked in a room.”
Donnal leaned into him for a second, the huge head almost unbearably heavy. I will believe in you.
“Good.” Mercury glanced to Kami. “He’s willing.”
“Excellent. Mercury?” Kami smiled at him. “You need to move away, just in case.” Kami met Donnal’s eyes. “We don’t think you’ll hurt him on purpose. It’s for the baby’s sake.”
“Right, I’ll be right here if you need me. Okay? And there’s tons of people here more than willing to help out. Just trust the process.” He needed Donnal to believe.
“That’s it. Trust the process.”
Mercury backed off, and Kami dropped the ruby into Donnal’s paw.
Donnal stared into its depths, his eyes glowing the same color as the stone.
It was amazing because he seemed to tune into it right away.
He didn’t think Donnal was a stone singer, but maybe he did have an affinity for all things jeweled and golden and whatever valuable. Maybe it was part of his talent.
Then Donnal convulsed, his face stretching into a terrible grimace. His body curled on itself, and his tail whipped out. Mercury was glad he’d backed off because that really could have hurt.
Cain moved in, going into the danger zone to lay hands on Dannol and add his seer strength to the process. Kami began to sing like he was singing the stone out of a cave or something, but instead he thought he was helping it attune to Dannol.
Dannol roared, his body seeming to crystallize, as if he was made of some sort of fractalized stone. Then crystals began dropping from him like his scales were falling off. They weren’t, but it was the most amazing thing when they started hitting the floor: clunk, clunk, clank.
Mercury’s eyes went wide. No wonder they had locked him away in a room. It had to be because he could create precious stones. Mercury wondered if he could create metals, too. Maybe if they put a chunk of gold in Dannol’s hand, he would be able to make ore.
Not that Mercury cared because he didn’t want gold. Or at least that was not what he wanted from Dannol. He just wanted his new friend to be happy and to have a stone so he could be healthy again. He was so skinny and he needed to start eating and Mercury understood that intimately.
When Donnal snapped almost in half, Mercury closed his eyes because he felt awful for his new friend.
Poor Donnal. He looked like he was in so much pain, and his scales were actually starting to smoke. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew that wasn’t right.
He reached out to Donnal with his mind. Please, please let it do its work.
We’re going to be the best of friends, you and me and Kami.
And you’re going to love Talon. It’s going to be great.
I promise there are so many neat people for you to meet.
And there’s patty melts. I bet you don’t even know about patty melts.
Patty melts are amazing. And, and milkshakes.
Don’t forget the milkshakes. Milkshakes are great.
He just wanted Donnal’s pain to stop, because that just looked so awful for him. Mercury didn’t remember it hurting so bad when he had bonded with his stone. Maybe it had; he didn’t know, but this was agonizing.
He’s going to be fine. This is what happens. Talon didn’t seem terribly worried.
Well, I don’t like it, he snapped, arms wrapped around his middle. I don’t like it at all. I want it to stop, and I want him to feel better.
Cain moved right into the middle of the maelstrom that Donnal was creating. “Braaken, I’m here. All is well. You’ve got this, you can do this.”
Donnal roared. You don’t know.
Mercury squeezed his eyes shut. I know, I know you can do this. I believe in you. I believe in you so much. I want you to meet my baby when it’s born. I want you to be mine and Kami’s and Reno’s and Talon’s friend.
Hailee, you have to calm down. Talon’s mental touch was like a balm, sweet and easy. Breathe. He’ll be fine. This hurts.
I’m just worried. It seems like it’s so bad.
Yes, but you survived it. I survived it. He’ll survive it.
Mercury hoped so, because he thought this was awful, and he thought that whoever broke someone else’s stone was just the most terrible dragon alive. That was evil.
Donnal sobbed softly, and Cain went to him, holding him carefully. “I’m here, sweet braaken. I have you.”
Tears stung his eyes, and he looked at Talon, who held his hand tight. It’s getting better already.
Cain’s touch does seem to be helping. He watched Donnal curl into Cain, the stones no longer dropping from him. But there were a few pieces of molten ore that burned the carpet.
“Breathe, braaken.” Cain murmured. “Breathe and focus on the stone, not the pain.”
Kami’s song intensified, and Anemone and Skye were there, singing as well, hands on Cain’s back as if they were lending him strength.
Reno grabbed Kami, and the song swelled to new heights, so Mercury took Kami’s hand with the one Talon wasn’t holding, his breath catching when power thrummed through them all.
“Oh.” Donnal’s head lifted, smoke pouring out of his nose, his eyes blood red. He clutched the big chunk of stone, and pieces fell off.
“He’s faceting the stone!” Boone shouted it, and he was right. The ruby was starting to gleam like a giant jewelry gem, polished and flawless.
And when it looked like the most perfect ruby ever, Donnal’s smoke stopped pouring from him and he passed out cold, holding the stone to his chest.
Mercury started forward, but Talon stopped him. “No. He’s all right. Let the seers and the medical staff see to him.”
“But—”
“Love, just let them help him. I swear, he’s all right.”
Kami squeezed his hand. “He really is. I’ve seen this a few times now. He’s still holding the stone. If he wasn’t bonding with it, if one had rejected the other then he would have tossed it like an oversized cookie.”
He looked back and forth between his mate and his new best friend. “Promise?”
“We do. Right, Cain?”
Cain looked more exhausted than Mercury had ever seen him look, but then, he hadn’t known the guy for long.
“Yes. He’s resting now. All will be well. I promise.”
Mercury chewed his lower lip. “Can I have a milkshake?”
“Of course, hailee.” Talon lifted him, holding him to that wide chest. “What flavor?”
“Caramel.” Caramel always did seem to do the trick.