by Unknown
Colin leaned over and kissed her tenderly on the lips of her pussy. Then he moved up to hold and kiss her face. "You're beautiful," he whispered.
Her fingers trailed down his spine. "So are you, Magical Shifter Man."
She came unresisting into his arms as he rolled his body atop her. God, his erection was as firm as if he hadn't come for days. He wanted to fuck her. Deep. Hard. For the rest of the night. His loins were aching again with the need and passion of it. "Do you want me?" He thrust his hips against the cradle of her pelvis. She felt soft and yielding, drenched with her own hot juices.
"You know I do." Her hands were at his kilt, which was all bunched up around his hips. "Why are you still wearing this skirt?"
He laughed, although he was barely capable of laughter at this point. He was raising himself to tear the damn thing off when she suddenly turned stiff in his arms. For a moment, he thought she was having another orgasmic contraction, but he quickly realized it was not pleasure she was experiencing now.
Ariane's expression had completely changed. A look of agony came over her and her body curled up into a fetal position.
Had he done something wrong?
"Ari? What's the matter?" He caressed her hunched-up form as tenderly as he could. The sevmelle, he noted, seemed fainter now. "Are you in pain?" He hoped she couldn't hear the panic in his voice. He wouldn't be able to bear it if anything happened to her.
Her eyes had closed, but he could tell she was still conscious. Her heart was racing. Was she having some sort of seizure? "Ari," he whispered, frightened. Should he yell for Ross? He was a vet, but whatever, he had gone to medical school.
She shivered for almost a minute, as if she were experiencing some deep inner turmoil. Then she seemed to gather herself. "I'm fine. I'm sorry. Please don't worry."
Her voice sounded clear. But she was still breathing hard.
"Are you ill? What can I do to help?"
"Not ill. I felt...something. I'm sorry, Colin. I just need a few minutes to think."
"Of course," he agreed, wondering if he ought to leave her alone. Probably. But before he could bring himself to rise and leave her, she said, in a quiet voice, "I would like to negotiate."
"Negotiate?"
"With you and your brothers. About what I am willing to tell you. As a representative of my world and a Traveler of Zanovar."
What the fuck? They had been about to make love, and she wanted to negotiate?
No, he told himself. Negotiation was good. It was certainly better than being tortured by Cameron. He had never expected her to be so strong in standing up to his brother. He'd seen tough guys fall to their knees and wail for mercy when Cam started his intimidation spiel.
You couldn't interrogate a puppy. He hardened himself. If she would actually talk for them, it would make everything so much easier. "I'm listening."
"I just felt something. I think it's Rin. I think he's trying to find me. He's still in this world, Colin. He needs my help. He's injured. Sick. Maybe dying."
So that was why she had gone so stiff and cold. Her pet had contacted her via the mental bond? Okay. That he could understand.
He wanted to comfort her.
He also wanted to kill Rin. It was idiotic, he knew. She loved the animal in the same way he might love a favorite pet.
"If he dies here, in your world, there will be problems," she said. She must have been doing some fast thinking. "I know it's not only your family who patrol your seas and your skies. I've seen the aircraft flying overhead. I've also seen ships out on the horizon. I even saw one of your live reports on that screen-like thing you call the internet. News of events flash around your world in seconds. I admit that I don't understand precisely how that happens...it seems like some kind of magic to me, although Kate assures me it is not."
Kate had been showing her the internet? Damn. Cam was going to freak if he heard that.
"I think that this means there could be many people besides your family and allies who would leap on the news of a dead creature who is not of this world. There would be speculation and maybe an investigation, and—"
"I get the idea," he interrupted. "What do you propose to do about it?" That isn't already being done, he added silently. There was a search on. If she could sense Rin again, he had probably never left this world at all.
"Do you know where Rin is?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Not exactly. Nearby, I think. He tried to obey my order to cross to our own world, but I think he was too badly hurt to manage it." She turned over and pushed herself up to a sitting position beside him. "Colin? I need you to help me find him. Save him. Heal him. Your brother—your other brother—is a physician who heals animals, is that not true? I want him to heal Rin."
Colin had no idea whether it was even possible. But if anybody knew how to minister to a sea dragon, it must surely be Ross.
Negotiate. Be hard-assed. "What are you offering in return?"
"I will talk. Answer your brother's questions to the best of my ability. There are a few things I cannot disclose about the training of a Traveler. But the rest—information about my world and about the countries I have visited, that I am willing to share, as long as you swear a sacred oath that none of my people will come to harm as a result of my sharing."
"Our role is not to cause harm, but to prevent it."
"Well, I'm not so sure about Cameron, but I will accept his word on the matter."
"There can be no guarantee that your pet will be healed. We can try. That's all I can promise."
For the first time he saw the desperation in her eyes. "I know. But please try, Colin. I think it's his only hope."
Ross agreed as soon as he heard the proposal. In fact, he looked intrigued at the possibility of examining a sick zrakon. Cam, who returned to the castle that evening, was harder to convince. He tried to lay his own conditions. He wanted to take Ariane away from Mallochbirn and question her in one of his compounds. Colin refused, insisting that this wasn't part of the deal.
The only reason he finally agreed, Colin suspected, was that Ross put silent pressure on him. Now that he could link his own mind to another person's—something his brothers did not know and were never going to find out—Colin could sense when somebody else was doing it. From the expression on both twins' faces, they were engaging in silent debate while Colin waited. But Ross was the eldest and the laird. And eventually Cam gave a slightly resentful nod.
They had a deal.
Chapter 15
Ariane had been right. Colin sensed another sea dragon nearby.
Surely it must be Ariane's pet. He and his brother Ross were, as far as he knew, the only sea dragons in this world, unless there were some in distant oceans.
The other sea dragon was swimming listlessly near the Barrier. Once again, he detected the scent of blood in the water. And something else, something sharp and rank. Infection? Fuck, the animal was not only injured, but his wounds must have suppurated.
"Yes!" Ariane's thought reverberated through his brain, and for the first time ever he resented it. She was overjoyed to find the fucking creature. Colin couldn't account for the ferocious fury that swept through him. He had never felt anything remotely similar in his human form. He couldn't think, couldn't form words in his head. He was plunged into a fever of aggression and rage.
He wanted to attack Rin. Rip him apart. The other sea dragon had no fucking hold on her. She belonged to him now.
Rin must have been confused and scared, because he was sluggish in sensing that they were nearby. And when at last he did, the sea dragon fled. His burst of speed was mighty and Colin shot forward after him.
"Oh no, he's frightened. It's because he senses you're stronger, and he'd be at a disadvantage in a fight. I'm having trouble linking with his mind. I think he's fevered. The only way we can do it is for me to go to him and bond with him. Then I can follow your lead."
She had told him in advance that this was what she was going to do, but he didn't have to
like it. Plus, it seemed dangerous, especially if she was having trouble reaching Rin's mind. He didn't want to let her go, especially to the other sea dragon. And it was deep here. The transfer would have to be made quickly, and then she and the other creature would have to surface slowly. If she could control him.
It's risky, he warned her.
"I can do it. I've been swimming with him for two years. I know about deep water and how to manage it. We'll be okay."
Maybe they'd be okay if the creature weren't injured. What if he couldn't give Ariane all the air she needed? What if he couldn't rise to the surface? Fuck. If that happened, he would grab her. Force her back to him. Carry her away if need be. He wasn't going to let her die because of her bond with this...this pet.
"Now," she cried as they came close enough. With great misgivings, Colin released the hold of his pectoral tentacles so she could swim away from him. She moved like quicksilver. She could swim almost as well as a fish, he thought admiringly. She darted to Rin and the great creature shuddered. Colin panicked a little when he realized that the mental link between her and him had been severed. Even though she had told him that she could only manage a single link at a time, he felt desolate at her withdrawal.
When the other sea dragon seized her with a stronger movement than Colin would have thought possible, he felt once against that surge of hot jealous hatred for the creature. He had to fight to prevent himself from attacking the injured monster. It was irrational, he knew, but no one was allowed to touch Ariane except him. His entire brain seemed to have been pumped full of aggressive chemicals that made him envision tearing the other zrakon to pieces and spitting out his entrails all over the ocean floor.
She was with him now. Her face pressed to his breast, his tentacles clutching her close. But nothing else happened. They weren't moving. Colin cursed, blowing out a vicious stream of water. Was Rin too injured to swim? Were they going to be able to surface? Could Ariane breathe? Rin couldn't have taken a breath himself for far too long. Was there any air left?
She had assured him that sea dragons had reserves of air, and he knew that he could sometimes go a lot farther on a single breath than he would have thought, but damn. He hadn't spent anywhere near enough time in this form. And he didn't know enough about his own sea dragon physiology. Ross would probably know, being a vet and all.
The creature dived, which seemed like madness to Colin, since the human body wouldn't be able to withstand the pressure of a deep dive. He arched his body and followed. The idiot was going to kill her. He couldn't permit that.
He was about to give up and grab Ariane back...humans did not have reserve bladders of air, that much he knew for sure, and it had been long enough, when he saw them slowly start to rise toward the surface. The movement seemed controlled, not frantic. But there was still blood in the water from Rin's wounds.
Ten minutes later, to Colin's immense relief, they were swimming near the surface and Rin was following slowly in Colin's wake. When he dived to seek the entrance to the underground channel that led to the cavern, Rin was slow to follow, and Collin, impatient, was tempted to say fuck this we're close enough and snatch his woman back. But the other sea dragon did follow, finally, and after what seemed like forever, they emerged in the cavern pool. Colin shifted as soon as he saw Ariane surface. He swam to her and grabbed her much more roughly than he probably ought to have done. But to his relief, she was smiling,
"Thank you, thank you!" she cried, hugging him. Her body against his instantly sent him soaring into a high state of arousal, but she didn't seem to notice. "He's hurt, but I think, I hope, that with rest and care he will recover. But it was hard at first. I didn't think I would be able to reach him. He was so dispirited. He had resigned himself to dying alone in an unknown world." She clung to his neck, rubbing her head against him like a cat. "Thank you!"
"Um, sure. Glad to help," he said, feeling a little ashamed of himself for his bloody thoughts about killing Rin.
Chapter 16
"What is that? What do you want to give him?" Ariane could hear the frantic tone of her own voice. Rin was so sick. She had thought he was safe as soon as they had coaxed him here into the cavern, but the wounds on his back were festering and his body was sluggish and hot. He seemed barely to have the will to keep himself afloat and his dejection was obvious every time she bonded with him.
"It's a kind of medicine," Colin answered.
"A broad spectrum antibiotic," said Ross. "He is overwhelmed with infection. I'll do my best, but I can't guarantee anything. His labs aren't back yet, so I'm not sure which organism is causing the problem. If he was infected on the other side of the Barrier, the microbes might be different. That's one of the dangers of moving between worlds. We know nothing about what we may or may not have immunity to in a biosphere other than our own."
Although Ariane had had some training as a healer, she didn't really understand what he was saying. Colin must have realized she was confused because he tried to explain while Ross, assisted by his wife Kate, continued to work. They were injecting Rin with something through his hide. As he did so, Ross shot her a grin, saying, "This worked on me once when I got sick in sea dragon form."
"Infections are caused by tiny life forms that you can't see with the naked eye," Colin told her. "They live all around us, on and in us. Usually we control them, but if we're weak or wounded, they can grow faster than our own body's defenses can eliminate them, and we get sick."
"We believe something like that too. That is, our bodies are in balance with nature and our vital energy is strong and able to ward off other less beneficial energies. If the balance is shifted, illness is the result."
"We call that balance homeostasis," Ross said, talking while he continued to work. "The body is a complex mechanism, full of regulating systems. Keeping everything all within normal parameters is how we stay healthy. But in this case, a microbe has gained a hold and multiplied far faster than it can be regulated. Eventually, it is possible that Rin's body would defeat it and he would regain his health. But given how weak he is, we are going to help him do that, by giving him a drug that will kill the offending microbes. Wipe them out and give him a better chance to regulate all his systems."
"If these organisms are too tiny to see, how do you know they're there?"
"Two ways," said Kate. "Some of them can be seen in a microscope, which is an instrument that magnifies something. Ross has one in his lab. I'll show it to you. And for stuff that's still too small to see that way, there are chemical and biological tests you can run that reveal telltale signatures of these organisms. It's complicated. I don't understand it myself."
"Will he survive this?" That was the only thing that mattered to her.
"I don't know," Ross admitted. "But we'll do our best."
With that, she had to be content.
Colin tried to distract her for the rest of the day, but it was hard to relax when Rin was so sick. She insisted on remaining in the cavern for as long as she could. When the tide came in, she went to her companion and joined with him, breathing through the bud when the water came up too high for her to stand. She thought he felt a little better. He could respond to her more easily and his pain seemed to be less. The air she took from his lungs also felt healthier somehow, although she couldn't explain why.
Kate finally persuaded her to leave and get some rest. She slept restlessly, but the next time she checked him, Rin again seemed cooler. Trying to distract her, Kate took her to the library and showed her the incredible collection of books. There were even some in her own languages...the languages of her own world. One in particular was so beautifully illustrated—an illuminated manuscript—that she took it with her back to her room, promising Kate she would be very careful with it.
By the next afternoon, Rin was definitely cooler. Ross came again to check and nodded when she asserted this. "I think so, too. It won't be until tomorrow that we know for sure, but yes, I'd say he's responding. Plus, I got some test results. The org
anism we isolated is a variant on something we have here, and I'm hopeful the drug will be effective against it."
"Thank you so much. If he lives I will be forever in your debt."
"I'm a doctor," he told her gently. "This is my job, healing animals if I can. You'll owe no debt to me."
The other brother, the one who looked identical to the doctor, was another matter altogether.
He met them in the large central chamber of the main floor of the castle when they came up from the cavern that evening. To Colin, who was at her side, he said, "I understand that the situation with the creature is no longer so dire. I have questions for your friend." The look her gave Ariane was cold. "I've waited long enough."
* * *
This time she answered Cameron's questions. When it became clear that she was willing to speak and that she had useful information about her world to convey, Ariane could see the older brother begin to relax. He was a strange one, she thought, so different from Colin and Ross. She could understand the difference between older and younger siblings—they didn't even look much alike. But it was eerie how different Cam was from Ross, considering that their outward forms were identical.
And yet, she could differentiate them, even without watching their expressions or listening to their different conversational style. They reminded her of a fresco in an old temple in Zanovar. The old man with two faces, one light and one dark. Ross, the healer, always quick with a smile or a jest, was on the light side of the fresco, while Cam was darker. Almost a destroyer, at times.
A nameless dread came over her at that thought.
There was something about him. She wished she could pinpoint what it was, other than vague references to metaphors and ancient frescos.
The interrogation lasted all evening. He finally allowed her to leave the room, which had become gloomy as the sun went down. She ran down to the underground cavern to check on Rin, and was delighted to find him resting comfortably, free of fever and looking much better. Colin found her down there, bathing in the water at Rin's side.