7. Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven
Mattias
“I don’t know if Caspian is strong enough for this mission yet,” I hissed, pacing along the shore in front of Ionus and Caro.
“That’s a fair assessment after what happened when we sparred,” Caro replied, “but how long can we afford to put it off? Torin might be in danger now, if the dragons who trapped him in the ice start to suspect that others know about him or that we’re coming.”
“Take a moment, both of you,” Ionus said, hands clasped behind his back as he stared at me. “We’ll wait twenty-four hours to give Caspian more time to recover, that’s it. You fly out of here after that. Hopefully being back in the region will help Kes find Torin this time.”
“As long as Kes can get Quint close enough to where Torin is being held, Quint will be able to sense him and take care of the rest.”
“You two know how crucial it is that this mission is successful,” Ionus said.
“I know about the research you’ve been doing, Mattias, and your theory is sound, but I do not wish to test it.
We cannot afford for this war to stretch on until our children are old enough to fight beside us, that is unacceptable!
It needs to end as soon as possible. We need Torin brought here safely, that is the only way we will be strong enough to face the battles to come. ”
“We understand the gravity of the situation,” Caro said.
“This time of year, the ice will be thick up there,” I told Caro. “Sea conditions will not be what you’re used to.”
“If you still think that I’ve never explored the depths even in the worst of storms, you’re mistaken,” Caro explained. “I know what the seas around the island will be like and am ready for them.”
“After we win this war, you and I need to sit down and talk about all the places you’ve explored that I don’t know about,” I declared, narrowing my eyes at Caro. “As well as how you kept me from detecting you in places you weren’t supposed to be.”
“Only when the tide was high,” Caro pointed out, “when they’re low, they belong to me.”
“That’s it!” Ionus snapped.
For a moment I feared Caro and I had gone too far by steering the topic back to a recent point of contention between us, but it wasn’t anger I heard in Ionus’ voice, it was excitement.
“That’s how you free Torin,” Ionus declared.
“You find the edge of the ice, where it meets the sea, and you combine forces to break him out. The bottom of the formation will be the best way in. Use your fire to warm the sea. Focus it upward into the ice. Mattias, that’s where you’ll come in.
Caro will heat the water, you’ll direct it.
Kes and Caspian will watch your backs and ensure no one is attempting to sneak up on you while you work.
Quint will keep the Lampreys away. I know loss of any life we do our best to avoid, but given what these lampreys were created for, they’re better off gone.
They pose far too many threats to the creatures living within the seas. ”
“Agreed,” Caro and I both said.
“Once the ice melts enough, Torin will slip free of his prison, at which point, you four will need to guide him up to Quint. Heed the warning Caspian gave about the water around that island being toxic and work fast before it has the chance to affect you.”
“We will,” I said. “The plan is sound and one that would allow us to work fast once we arrive there, with one exception.”
“Which is?”
“I’d prefer Kes remain with Quint once we locate the ice imprisoning Torin,” I explained. “He’s better suited to the frozen conditions and would be able to use the terrain to his advantage. Caspian has the same advantage underwater and would be able to call for help if a threat neared.”
Ionus stroked his chin, looking thoughtful. “Good call, go with that.”
“We will,” Caro and I replied.
“Make sure you keep an eye on Quint,” Ionus said. “Don’t let him do anything reckless.”
“Pretty sure Odem and I have reckless covered when it comes to this family,” Caro said.
“Be that as it may, being distracted by a mate can make a dragon forget his training,” Ionus said, “we must remember that our families need us to get back home to them, so we can’t screw this up and disappoint them, any of us.”
Translation: Ionus takes full responsibility for any of our fuckups and loss of dragon life, isn’t an option.
“We hear you.”
“Good, because I’d hate to have to ask Raven to find a resurrection spell to bring you back so I could lecture you on getting yourselves killed,” Ionus said, stern, large and in charge voice returning.
“She wouldn’t do it,” Caro said.
“That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t ask,” Ionus grumbled. “So, remember what I said.”
“We will.”
“There is another concern I have involving one of your mates, Mattias,” Ionus said. “Has Kes allowed Raven to examine him since he arrived here? What he said about not being able to communicate fully with his dragon is concerning if he’s going to be watching Quint’s back.”
“I don’t think so,” I replied. “He’d have been scanned for leeches, but that was the extent of the screening.”
“Get it done before you go,” Ionus said. “She might be able to help him.”
“I will.” Maybe if I play it off as her scanning all of us before we left he’d agree to it. Kes held many secrets that I hoped in time, he’d share with his mates.
He nodded and walked away without another word.
“I still can’t believe how grumpy he gets in the mornings now when he had to leave his mate in bed,” Caro said. “Reminds me of us every time he demanded we meet him on the pitch at the crack of dawn.”
“Have you noticed the way he grimaces, just a smidge, before announcing a training time,” I asked. “I swear he adjusts it before he says it too and gives us more time than he’d intended.”
“It’ll be nice when we can take all the time we want in the morning, eat breakfast in bed with our mates and not have to worry about someone sounding the alarm while we’re feeding them a croissant.”
“Aye brother, it will.”
His footsteps squishing in the sand, soon faded as I stared into the water.
Somehow, Caspian had found his way here to my private beach, trailing after Kes, while Alex had climbed a fucking mountain to get to Ionus, even if he hadn’t realized it at the time.
Emerson had nearly been driven mad when Caro had put distance between them, while Ronan had gone into full blown meltdown mode because he’d thought Odem had been avoiding him.
Knowing Odem, he might have been.
When he’d shyly admitted that the reason he’d behaved so harshly toward Odem was because he’d felt like he’d been abandoned, his fury had made far more sense, especially to the other omega mates.
He hadn’t known about our enemies, who’d been relentlessly pursing dragons around the world, seeking to either enslave or wipe them out.
All he’d known was that he’d fallen for someone only to learn that they had a reputation for getting bored and moving on to the next willing omega.
Lashing out had been the only way Ronan felt he had of getting back at Odem for making him feel that way.
As soon as Ronan had set aside his pride and started being honest with Odem, they’d been able to see how good they were together.
Charmingly exuberant, the both of them, but fierce and loving too.
Odem was every dragonet’s favorite uncle, while Ronan had learned to make the girls tutus so Princess Luna was never without one, even when an ill-timed snort produced an errant fireball from her twin brothers.
He held tea parties for them and had taught himself to bake tiny cakes without setting half of their kitchen on fire.
We weren’t to speak of the charred, twisted remains of the still-smoking cupcake pan I’d found on a sand dune one afternoon, a smoldering hunk of lava still trying to melt through it.
I’d quietly disposed of it for him, and containers of treats randomly turned up on my doorsteps whenever he baked, now that he’d gotten the hang of it.
I went inside to speak to Kes and heard laughter coming from the living room. My mates were seated on the couch, Caspian’s arm around Kes, as they watched some kind of cartoon.
Was that a dish sponge?
In pants?
…and a squid playing a clarinet?
I wasn’t certain if I was intrigued or appalled, it was so damned ridiculous I forgot what I came in here to speak to Kes about.
Cocking my head, I stood there, mouth agape, staring at the television as arms started popping out of the sponge, each with a hand holding a spatula.
Burgers flew across the kitchen, landing on buns lined up on a counter.
Okay, a sponge working at a fast-food joint, got it.
Now who the hell was wandering around dreaming up this shit?
Caspian snorted. Kes giggled. Rocking, they fell over one another as they hugged. Damnit, now I remembered why I’d come in here. I was going to have to be a killjoy in a moment. My stomach twisted at the thought of interrupting them and the unfettered way they laughed and cuddled.
But I had to.
Ionus was right. We needed to get through the war, and survive the damn thing, so we could enjoy moments like this without worrying about rogue dragons attacking our city.
“I’m sorry, but we need to talk,” I said as I picked up the remote and turned the television off.
They went from laughing to being apprehensive in seconds, making my heart ache at the sudden transformation and sadness that now radiated from them.
I sat across from them in the chair and leaned forward, elbow on my knees, whispering a prayer to the Goddess that Kes would take my request with the concern I intended, instead of fighting me on it.
“Kes, I’d like you to be examined by Raven,” I said, cutting right to the heart of the matter.
“If anyone has a chance of detecting and perhaps removing whatever block is keeping you from fully connecting with your dragon, it’s her.
” Well, so much for the we all need to be checked out approach. Way to go, Mattias!