CHAPTER EIGHT
MERIDA
She was flying.
Reaching her arms out into the air curiously, Merida felt the breeze sift through her outspread fingers. Where the water dried on her skin, her appearance shrank away. Scales became smooth skin and webbed fingers became dexterous again. Her sodden hair whipped around her face in all directions as the siren laughed at the strange situation she had found herself in.
She was flying.
Pressing her palms to a scaled claw that was so large it circled her entire body, Merry tried to shimmy herself up for a better view but it was no good. The grip the dragon had around her only tightened to perhaps make sure she didn't fall.
More scales receded leaving her body shivering in the cold air until her teeth chattered. What an odd pair to find. It had been years since she had seen a dragon. Years since she had managed to see anything outside of that horrendous Queen’s cages. Tortured for the precious pears she could create and made to perform like a court jester when nobody else was around.
Because she was a trinket nobody else could possess. The rarest jewel of the sea, that's what the Queen had said. Even when she peeled scales from her body and made Merida cry tears that turned into glittering pearls.
When the blonde demon had stepped into her prison, Merry had thought him nothing more than another soldier come to steal more from her. She had wholly intended to do any damage she could achieve. To score his face with her claws and drown him in her swirling jail.
But he was so pretty . His eyes like golden Betta fish scales when the sun caught them just right. Rich gold and pink stained cheeks. He’d even gaped like a fish staring at her when she’d hissed threats at him before tossing him out to endure her punishment for reacting.
Staring over at where he hung limply in the dragon's gripped claw, a pang of unease went through her. He’d been swimming so hard when she saw the light dim in his eyes. When his body had started to struggle. Merida had no air in her lungs to offer him or she would have done more.
Even now, he was so far from her reach to pull the water from his lungs. His face was pale from what she could make out against his long blonde hair, loose from its braid.
Why did they steal her like this? Was it another trap?
The dragon pumped its wings in a huge gust, driving them through the clouds that passed by. The gills at the sides of her neck closed and the siren took her first breath of fresh air. Merida breathed in so deeply she coughed, the chill in her lungs tightening her chest.
Patting at the giant creature's claw, the best she could hope for was to catch his attention. The grey clouds slid over his scales, reflecting them like iridescent diamonds. Like the way she had seen sunlight cut through the water and between them, she swore there were the smallest of sparks. A blink and you’d miss it flicker running over the creature’s body like a live current.
Again, Merry slapped her hands against the hard scaled surface until his gigantic head twisted in her direction, chuffing out a growl. Pointing at the limp male, she did her best to try and explain, her hands moving to her mouth and chest. There was no way he would hear her over the rushing wind and she didn't bother trying to yell.
A few seconds passed, the dragon eyeballing her, warm brown and rich amber trying to piece together any motive she might have other than not letting the other male suffocate before the dragon dove.
It took all but the work of a moment to find themselves landing on the huge salt cliffs. Releasing her from his grip, the dragon was infinitely gentle as he lowered the other male to the white gritty surface, his body boneless as he lay there, wheezing out the minimal air his body could manage before Merida padded over to him barefoot.
More scales were retreating into her skin, leaving her body bare and goosebumps rising from the chill. Her fingers had started to ache from the chill. They were sore and cramping as she pressed her hand against his sodden clothes and concentrated.
Around her, she was aware of the dragon changing too, of his huge form receding as the tail that was in the corner of her eye slinked away. Merry didn't have time to look, though the curiosity was nearly crippling.
Rather, Merida sought out the liquid she could feel in the unnamed male’s lungs. Unbuttoning his shirt, she pulled the sodden material out of the way and flattened her palm to his skin. Tingles spread, a rush of awareness that shivered over her entire body. Her pointed ears twitched of their own accord while she smoothed her hand upward, over the slight wheeze of his chest to his collarbone.
Scooting closer, the siren lifted her touch until only her fingertips remained, trailing them up the column of his throat and the line of his chin, until she touched pretty, soft lips that parted under her administration.
The water rose from his mouth like pulling a clear ribbon from his body, into the air and following Merida’s hand until she yanked quickly, dispersing the liquid as the male wheezed in a breath.
Then another. Sunshine eyes snapped open to stare at her all of a second before he twisted himself away, hacking out any remaining drops stuck in his throat and taking huge gulps of air.
Heavy steps paced behind her and Merry didn't need to turn around to know it was a volatile dragon laying in wake. Instead, she lifted her hand to the golden eyed male’s back, rubbing in circles as he collected himself. If they were to be her new captors, she could at least feign to be meek and intrigued by them. No matter what the tingles were as they spread over her even now, little scales flaring in patches on her body.
“Are you alright?” The pacing behind her stopped. Crept forward to loom a huge shadow over the pair of them and still, she didn't turn her head just yet.
“Ruine. Ruine .”
He had a nice voice, the dragon. Deep, commanding. It made her think of deep waves and dark seas. The blonde one was Ruine then, who was currently, nodding his head even as he coughed brutally, holding up his thumb. “Just dandy. Give me a second alright?” For a moment he turned his gaze, the force of it hitting her and widening at the corners before passing her. His cheeks turned pink all over again and Merry felt a curious rush of delight at the sight of them. Was he .. blushing? “Why are you both naked?!”
Wasn't that self explanatory? “You don’t wear clothes in the sea.” She said it as if he’d asked something ridiculous. What a silly notion.
“What the fuck did you expect me to do, take the suit off and fold it away before shifting? While you flailed around like a fish with no fins?” The dragon growled at him. Truly growled in a way that Merry felt it vibrate through her bones.
“You know I like to learn by doing it. I was learning to swim.” Pushing himself off from his hands and knees, Ruine sat back on his ass and looked anywhere but directly at herself or the dragon.
He was such a gorgeous male. Not feminine, but not all hard angles and sharp cuts either. Golden horns that twisted away from his face, shiny and polished looking. Blonde brows that arched nicely. High cheekbones that gave her the impression of royal lineage He was beautiful in such a way she couldn't put her finger on it.
Pretty like a snake. Pretty like all dangerous things were. Pretty like a devil who lured others into the dark.
Merida’s toes curled. She liked dangerous things. The dark was where the most interesting creatures lay in wait.
“Ruine. Are you telling me we infiltrated the Siren Queen’s shithole, and you didn't even know how to swim? In the middle of the ocean, and you don't. Know. How. To swim ?”
Twisting her neck, Merida looked up at the dragon that now stood on two feet rather than four claws.
And up. And up.
The male was just as large and impressive as his counterpart. White hair hung around him, damp and messy, several little shiny trinkets glittering in the strands. Two horns at either temple caught the sun that shone down, throwing rainbows of colour onto the salted ground, one small, one large and intimidating. His face was the kind of handsome she had only ever seen on sculpted marble statues deep in the sea. A strong jaw, a straight nose. But it was his eyes that caught her off guard. His eyes had changed in the shift, now burned honey and amber at the pair of them furiously.
Blatantly running her gaze down and categorising every part of him, Merida felt her ears twitch again and her mouth fill with saliva at the sight of such an impressive figure. Did he have no muscle fat at all? Every part of the dragon was hard muscle and defined smooth skin aside from where he was wounded and bleeding here and there. Iridescent scales flickered and disappeared here and there the further her eyes travelled, down the faint happy trail at his belly button and… oh yeah. Big all over.
As if his cock could feel her stare, it jerked, making her blink before the dragon cleared his throat. “At least ask my name before drooling at the sight of my dick, little siren.”
The gills at the sides of her neck opened and her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. “I didn't mean to stare, it's just… You’re right there. Very unclothed.”
White eyebrows rose as the dragon ran his eyes over her in return. Slowly. Deliberately pausing at the rise and fall of her breasts long enough that Merida’s arm crept up to cover them. He smirked at her and while they were entirely strangers to one another, her body gave a rush of heat. The scent of sweetpea’s filtering into the sea salt air.
“Stop fucking flirting, Hellion.”
Hellion. Ruine. They were nice names.
“My name is Merida.”
Ruine shrugged out of his drenched suit jacket, tossing it from them to land with a wet thud on the salt. “Why did the Queen have you there, Merida?”
“Because I was foolish enough to get caught while I was looking for something.”
“Looking for what?” Ruine came closer to her, his buttery gaze soft and inviting, his head tilted like he was truly interested in what she had to say.
“I was looking for home. I’m looking for my sisters. Eris. Blythe. Lillith. I heard them calling to me. I heard them calling me home all the way down in the dark.”
Blonde brows came together as Ruine watched her. “You’re not a siren. Are you Merida?”
“Of course not. I’m a Lunarian.”
Ruine’s head whipped to Hellion, something passing between their gaze as amber eyes widened a fraction.
“ Fuck .” Hellion grit out, his gaze darkening from liquid honey to cold chips of amber. “We have to go to Hell.”
“Are you insane? That’s the first place they’ll send others to look for her. They’ll go to my father and tell him the shit we did. They’ll demand we hand her back to them.” Ruine ran a hand over his face, the smudges from the chalk that was once written on his face long gone, leaving streaks here and there. It only added to the gorgeous mystery of him.
“Where then?”
Merida looked between the pair as they bickered back and forth. Every now and then, she couldn't help notice Ruine’s gaze slipped from Hellion’s face and over his exposed body, then to her face, like he was having trouble concentrating. “I have to go to my sisters. I can't go into hiding again, not when they need me.”
“The mountain.” Ruine continued on like he hadn't heard her. She didn't like that.
“And have them appear there too? You want me to let a threat waltz up my fucking territory? They know what she is. They have to know otherwise they never would have trapped her the way they did.”
Merida got to her feet as Ruine did the same, her arms crossing over her middle tightly against the chilling wind and the blonde stepped into her path a little to block the gust without looking at her. “I’m not going to a mountain.”
“Yes. Aren't you a king, Hellion? The Bone King of the dragon shifters? Afraid of a few fish swimming his way?”
Hellion bared impressively sharp teeth at the smaller male beside her. “Dont push my fucking buttons Ruine, you know I wont be doing this.”
“Weak.”
“It’s not weak. It’s protecting my home.”
“ Weak .”
The dragon’s hand shot forward, wrapping around Ruine’s throat and yanking him forward until they were nose to nose, the blonde male on his tiptoes just to handle the height difference. Granted Ruine didn't look remotely threatened. Merida’s ears twitched. She didn't like being ignored.
“A fucking princeling that’s never taken on any responsibility before wouldn’t understand a gods-damn thing about leading others. About protecting others.” Glittering scales rose over Hellion’s shoulders as he hissed furiously. “You run at the first sight of hardship. I’m not the fucking weak one here.”
Merida didn't see him move, she had only taken a step forward intent on separating them when Ruine was holding a small knife against Hellion’s throat. A single drop of blood ran from the sharp tip as the blonde dug it in a little harder. “I don't. Like. Fighting.”
“For things, or against them?”
She drew in a deep breath tinted with salt and sea water. Boys and their issues. Merry had enough of other people's problems to last her several lifetimes over as it was, she didn't need more.
Reaching her hand towards the pair, she called the water still in Ruine’s clothes. Still clinging to Hellion’s body and hair, wrapping it around their bodies like a leash on wild animals. Both males became still, stiff in their movements before she manoeuvred the pair apart. Shock was evident on both expressions while Merida willed them both to their knees, her control perfectly accurate.
It was a delight to use her abilities freely again. Without the manacle around her ankle that had restrained them, without the shocks that left her boneless and immobile, it was a rush of euphoria to her senses making every part of her tingle.
Or maybe it was the way both of them were looking at her from where they knelt in the salt.
Hellion’s promised retribution for it. Ruine’s cheeks were pink and she had to wonder what went on in that pretty head of his.
“I’m not going to a mountain. I’m not going anywhere but to find me sisters.” Her voice was as stern as she could make it, standing utterly naked in front of two males that made her toes curl with their appearances alone. That kind of reaction shouldn't be allowed. Merry would put it down to simply being without any kind of other contact aside from prison for a long time.
That had to be it.
“Do you know where my sisters are?” She tightened the control on the blood, making the pair sit up straighter.
Hellion only growled at her. Ruine cracked first.
“Only one.” His tone was choked, raspy. “Lilly is in Hell. You’re the second one to appear. We don't know where the others are.”
“Well then.” Merida released her grip on their bodies, ignoring how it drained the energy she had managed to gain out of her body. Expanding her abilities was always a hard task without the right preparation. “We’ll go to Hell.” Her brow rose. “Or do I have to make you take me?”
Hellion continued to growl at her, his gaze never leaving her face. “You do that shit again and we’ll see how strong you are when I turn that peachy ass red, sweetheart.”
Her ears twitched again. We’ll see about that .