“Have you ever been in active battle?”
“Oh yes, many times. I fight with a two-handed laser sword. My training started in my youth when my parents noticed that I was more talented in the ways of the mind — they ventured to ensure they would not have a weak son. And, although I resented it at the time, I now see the wisdom of their decision.”
“So do I.” Maia’s eyes ran a hot trail over his body and goose flesh rose on his skin under the intensity of her gaze.
Maia stepped closer, her fingers running over the tattoo on his arm across his shoulder and then down his chest. They swept lower and lower until they crossed his naval and rested on the waistband of his swim trunks. His body throbbed under the surface of the water and he squeezed his eyes closed before grasping her hand and gently moving it away.
"I want you. I want you more than anything I've ever wanted in my entire life. But we must wait for the results. Otherwise, I am no better than the Prince of Tides.”
Her mouth dropped in shock and she wrapped both arms around her child. "Never compare yourself to that man ever again. I refuse to hear you say those words, Zephyr. Do you understand me?"
“I am sorry if I have offended you, Maia, but this is the only way I can control my desire for you. I long for you in every moment. I want you with every shred of my being. But I must resist. I cannot give in to my desire without evidence that we are fated. I have no right…”
“But I want you too."
"I need to think, Maia. I need to be alone with my thoughts.” He turned away from her. The warring parts of his being thrashed and clashed inside him. The pain was nearly unbearable. “I will meet you for the evening meal tonight. And we can discuss it again then. Hopefully in that time I will be able to get myself under control and to think in a rational manner in keeping with the man I believe myself to be.”
"You're leaving me?" she asked as he turned away.
“I’ll be in the suite. I feel too conflicted to be near you right now. It's not doing either of us any good. You are so beautiful in that bathing suit, so joyous with your child, I fear I will lose control and will touch you or kiss you or tell you how much I love you.”
“Zephyr…” She reached out to him, but he moved away.
"We both know it's wrong. I will speak with you again soon, Duchess of Tides. You have my utmost respect. Please do not be offended."
"I'm not offended Zephyr. But I miss you when we are not together. My inner dragoness screams to complete the bond. It is all I have ever wanted and all I dreamed of in my months of captivity. I resisted the Prince of Tides, not only because he is an evil, confused man, but because I believed that true love was out there for me. Now that love is standing here before me, we both feel it, yet you deny it to yourself. We don’t need the mating analysis to prove we should be together. All we need is the truth inside our hearts.”
"But we could be wrong. And then what would we do?"
"You're right. If we are wrong and we are not true mates, we could potentially lose the respect of the other houses. We would inevitably bring the vengeance of the Prince of Tides. But don’t you think our feelings mean anything? Don’t they prove that we are meant to be together?"
"There is a reason that our people stopped depending on these feelings. And instead began to depend on the mating analysis. You of all people should understand that. You are the Dragoness Prime."
"I am a woman. And I am a woman in love with a man. That is enough for me.”
He turned to face her, moving through the soft waves. He stood just outside her arm's reach. His inner dragon screamed for him to take her in his arms, to console her, to tell her that their feelings were more than enough. To tell her she was all he had ever needed and all he ever would need. But he couldn't.
Instead, he said, “These feelings are important. And when the mating analysis proves I am your fated one, I will revel in them.”
And then he turned away, storming through the gentle sea and away from the woman who provoked more feeling than he had ever experienced in the totality of his existence. It was anguish or bliss. He didn't know which. The thought of being with her filled him with elation, but the thought of not being with her filled him with dread. He could not reconcile his heart and his head. He didn’t even know where to begin untangling the emotions warring inside him.
Chapter 13
Maia walked into the hotel suite, feeling more confused than ever. She wished that Zephyr would just forget about the mating analysis and give in to their longing. If they were humans, none of this would be an issue; they would just do what they felt was right. At least, that's what she had come to understand about the human race. At first, she’d felt a bit sorry for them. But now she felt sorry for herself. After the sun and sand at the beach, she gave Waverley a bath and put her down for a nap.
Zephyr was cloistered in his bedroom, so she decided it was best to leave him alone. After a shower and a change of clothes, she set down at the computer to do some more research on human courtship rituals. Maybe Zephyr was right. Maybe they were just fooling themselves because they both wanted so much to find their mates. Maybe her own mate was still out there somewhere.
She looked at a human dating website and then quickly turned it off. The whole process made her cringe, and she knew more than ever that she wanted things to work out with Zephyr. Her inner dragoness was sure than she had ever been. Her feelings weren’t wishful thinking. If the mating analysis couldn't prove she and Zephyr were mates, then the mating analysis was broken. At about dinnertime, Zephyr stepped out of his room, looking blurry eyed and tired.
“Were you sleeping?”
"I've been doing research. The vaccine seems to be spreading to animals. The vampires are going to become desperate without anything to eat.”
"What will they do?”
"My simulations suggest that the vampires will only be able to survive for a few weeks. Then they will be forced to go into stasis sleep or die.”
"That's good news, isn’t it?”
"It depends. It is very likely that they will strike back against dragons and humanity.”
"What will they do?”
“The vampires have a great deal of power in the world: wealth, and weapons. They could do anything from blow up half the world to crash the stock market. Perhaps sending out the vaccine was a hasty move on our part."
“But you had to.”
"Even now, the spread of the vaccine has changed their behavior. The disappearances and murders have stopped completely. But the humans are increasingly suspicious. Human behavior has become chaotic and there is civil unrest across the world. The humans may destroy themselves without any help from the vampires.”
"Why don't you tell them the truth now?"
"We decided to wait until after the vaccine was dispensed before doing so. Hopefully that will weaken the vampires enough that they can't do anything too destructive." He walked across the room and sat down in a chair across from her, folding his hands in his lap. "I continue to receive requests from dragons, asking me to find their fated mates. And I've had to explain to them that I can't do that. Not yet.”
“Why not?”
"I don't have a way of matching up the dragon DNA with human DNA.”
"What would it take to do it?"
"The truth is that writing the code would be a fairly simple process. If I got Cato and Penelope to help me, with Flora to advise us on the genetic components, I think as a team, we could probably create a program in a few days. But it hasn't been our priority until now. And it still isn't, to be honest. We have had much bigger problems to solve."
"But if you found the mate of the Prince of Tides, then he would have to let me go.”
"I hadn't thought of that. When I get back to the House of Storms, I will discuss it with the others and see what they think.”
Maia couldn’t help but be excited by the prospect of Current finding his mate. She and Waverley would finally be free. She believed in her heart that
all Current needed was to find his own mate. As soon as his inner dragon responded to the sight and scent of his fated one, he would have to let Maia go.
“Mortar will send a pod down to pick us up in about half an hour. Yuki has devised a way to make a shuttle to look like a human vehicle. Easier to make the trip back and forth this way.”
"That is ingenious."
"It is simply a shift in the cloaking shield’s program."
"I will get my things and prepare Waverley for the journey.”
Maia went about packing her things with new hope in her heart. A hotel porter came up and helped them with their bags as Maia wheeled her child in the contraption called a carriage down to the first floor of the hotel. She would always think fondly of the time she'd spent here. She wished they could have stayed longer. Maybe someday, when she and Zephyr were able to live their truth and be together, they could return. She could wear one of her new dresses, and they could spend the night laughing and dancing and swimming.
But for now, she had to find contentment in her freedom and safety of her child. When they made it out to the car, Maia found that Prince Mortar himself had come down to escort them back to the ship.
They all climbed into the large vehicle and pulled out onto the streets. They took a turn into a secluded road, shifted into stealth, and hopped into the sky.
"We've dispensed the last of our particle bombs carrying the vaccine. Now that we are done with this mission, the House of Stones is going to find a new home. We've been discussing where we would like to live, and we've decided that we like the state of Colorado. Maia, you are invited to come with us, or we can return you to the House of Storms.”
"But what about the Prince of Tides?"
“He’s been out dispensing his own bombs."
"And my brother?"
"We have made some subtle inquiries about the Duke of Tides and it is our conclusion that he is safe for now.”
"I must return to the House of Storms to complete my work. There is a great deal at stake at this moment in time.”
"You are more than welcome to join us in Colorado, Dragoness Prime."
She looked from the Prince to Zephyr and then at her child. Maia was at a loss as to what to do. Her inner dragon was screaming that Zephyr was hers. She didn't want to be separated from him. He had to return to the House of Storms to complete his work; work that could forever free her from the Prince of Tides.
“I will go with you to Colorado," Maia decided.
“We can drop Zephyr off at the House of Storms before we go.”
Her presence still being a secret, Maia retreated to her rooms. Feeling a mixture of hope and sadness left her in a state of melancholy. When it was time for Zephyr to leave, she walked with him to the door and unconsciously reached out to embrace him. It was such a natural gesture that it was almost impossible not to do it. But she felt him go rigid between her arms before he relaxed into her embrace. He took a long inhale of her scent in the crook of her neck as he held her close.
"I will get a new implant. We can speak through the mental link." She stepped away but still held his hand. They gazed into each other's eyes for a brief moment before he let her go.
“Yes. We should stay in touch."
“Inform me me as soon as you have conclusive data from the mating analysis." A tear formed in the corner of her eye.
"Of course." His voice was low as he turned away.
Zephyr stepped outside and disappeared behind the sliding door. Maia sucked a shuddering breath into her chest.
"I have come this far believing in love. I will continue to believe in it no matter what the circumstances.”
Chapter 14
Zephyr returned to the House of Storms more confused than ever. Feeling Maia’s arms around him had filled him with such a sense of belonging he had not wanted to let her go. His inner dragon had screamed to make her his. Without confirmation from the mating analysis, he could not allow himself what he most wanted.
As he walked through the back door of the House of Storms, he saw JoJo and Hanish stare up at him from the kitchen table.
"How did it go?" JoJo asked. “Have you claimed her yet?"
“The mating analysis is inconclusive," Zephyr grumbled.
"But your dragons both felt it," Hanish said. “I don't understand why you hesitate."
“I am not a man without honor.”
“Why can’t you get conclusive results?” Hanish asked.
"It could be any number of reasons. But it is most likely because she bore the dragonkin of twelve princes. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a great deal of work to do in the lab."
Zephyr stormed out of the kitchen, hurried through the living room, and trotted down the stairs to his laboratory. He found Flora there, working with a big bowl of nachos in her lap.
"You're back," she said, her mouth full.
"Yes, the bombs have all been dispensed. The houses will now be looking for homes of their own."
"I've been following the simulations you started about the human's reaction to the truth," Flora said. “The variables have shifted after dispensing of the vaccine, so I started that new simulation you suggested. The results suggest there is a 95% chance that the vampires will retaliate."
"I was afraid of that."
“However, it is possible the response will be advantageous to us and the human race." She shrugged another nacho in her mouth. It was unlike Flora to eat while working. Zephyr wondered what had gotten into her. He took one of her nachos as he sat down beside her.
“How so?”
"It's highly likely that the vampires will disclose for us.”
"Let me see the results." He slid his finger over the computer dashboard to bring up the data.
"Yes. I see here that the greatest probability is that they will disclose. But the second greatest probability is that they will unleash atomic bombs on the entire planet."
"But there is only a 65% chance they’ll do that," Flora said, her mouth full of nachos.
"Are you pregnant?" Zephyr asked, sniffing the air.
"Yes. Just found out this morning," she said. “How did you know?"
"Just a wild guess.”
She rubbed her stomach, leaning back in the chair. "I really would prefer the vampires not unleash nuclear winter on my planet,” she said.
"The social unrest across the planet is accelerating every day."
"My suggestion is that we wait for the vampires’ next move before taking any action. If we tell the humans ourselves, it takes away the vampires’ option for retaliation and makes nuclear fallout a lesser likelihood.”
I agree,” Zephyr said taking another nacho from her bowl. "Does Raiden know?”
"Raiden isn’t that interested in science." Nacho crumbs sprinkled on her lap.
"I meant about the baby."
"Oh yeah, he knows about that.”
"I'll have to congratulate him the next time I pass him playing that stupid game.”
“The game isn’t stupid. I play it myself.” She shoved another handful of nachos in her mouth. “Raiden is Guild leader again. We’re all happy to have them back.”
“That’s nice for all of you gamers, but I think we are going to need his fighting skills before all of this is done.”
"You know Raiden is always ready to fight."
“While we wait for the vampires’ response, there is another project we could be working on.”
"What's that?"
“There seems to be a universal request for a dating website.”
"A dating website. How could that be a priority?”
“It would be for dragons and Dragon Souls.”
"Ohhh.”
"I thought we could get your sister and Cato involved. And with your expertise on genetics, I was sure that we could have a prototype up and running within a few days.”
"That's probably true,” Flora said. “I'll get in touch with them right away.”
Taking her nachos with her, Flora and hurr
ied out of the lab and up the stairs. Zephyr continued reviewing the results of his simulations. He truly hoped that the results were correct. If the vampires disclosed to humans, it would explain the unexplainable events of the last several months, but if the vampires chose the other option, it could mean the end of the world.
"Zephyr, are you there?" Maia asked through the mental link.
"You got your chip implanted.”
“Mortar put it in on the way. We've just arrived in Colorado. The mountains here are beautiful. The House of Stone will be in such a lovely location, but I already miss the sea.”
"You are welcome to return to the House of Storms at any time."
"I would love to," she said. “Prince Mortar said I can take one of the shuttles any time, but I'm afraid that it won't be possible until things are worked out with the Prince of Tides. Have you made any progress with the dating website?"
"As a matter of fact, I have. I just spoke with Flora about it. She is going to contact her sister and brother-in-law about getting it started. We should have a beta version fairly soon. Granted, it will only have the DNA of the Dragon Souls who have ever donated blood, needed blood, or were born in a hospital after a certain date. It does leave out a whole swath of humanity, but it is a start. First, we will have to select out the Dragon Souls from the rest of humanity. Once we have them in a separate database, we can attempt to match them up with the male dragons currently on Earth. There is no telling how long it will take to match a specific male dragon with his mate. But at least we will have the infrastructure in place.”
“Can the Prince of Tides be the first to be matched?" Maia asked, her inner voice reluctant but hopeful.
"Yes. That seems to be the best choice. The sooner you are freed from his desire, the sooner you will be free to make your own choices."
“And the sooner I will know that my desire for you is real and not just my fear of going back into captivity.” Her tone was calm and unwavering. He blinked several times, seeing the wisdom in her words. But his inner dragon rebelled. His inner dragon new beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was his. The beast needed no proof, he knew his desire didn’t come from fear. His desire was destiny. Zephyr’s logical mind, on the other hand, would never act on his dragon’s desire without firm scientific evidence to back it up.
Dragon Guardians: Complete Series Page 40