by Rinelle Grey
He couldn’t sleep with her if he couldn’t tell her what the consequences of that act might be. If he couldn’t explain that if they slept together three times, they’d be mated for life, joined by the mating bond which couldn’t be broken, even by death.
Damien’s shoulders slumped, and he felt like the weight of the world was on them. Or all dragonkind anyway.
“You look like you swallowed a whale. What’s wrong? Did you and Zara have another fight?”
Damrian looked up at his mother, who had a crease on her brow.
Was she worried that he’d be upset or concerned that he’d said too much to Zara.
Damrian sighed. “No, the day was perfect.”
His mother raised an eyebrow. “Could have fooled me.”
He threw himself down on the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table. “I can’t tell her, can I?”
His mother sat down next to him and put a hand on his leg. “I’m sorry, Damrian. I know you want to. And under any other circumstances, I’d be encouraging you. I care about Zara, you know that. But right now, if even a whiff of this gets out, we’d have reporters swarming the island.”
He knew it was the truth, but that didn’t make it any easier to accept.
If only he’d told her years ago, before he’d made the mistake of kissing her. If he’d been honest with her first, admitted his feelings for her, maybe things might have been different.
But right now, he knew he couldn’t risk it.
Years ago, if someone had said Dragon Island Hideaway was run by real, actual dragons, everyone would have laughed in their face. But now…
Now there would be those who would believe it.
And he couldn’t bring that down on his family.
“Maybe in a few weeks, once Rian clan has met with the officials, and we know more about what’s happening. Maybe you can tell her then.”
“It could be too late by then.” Damrian knew his voice sounded sullen. He tried to stop it, but he couldn’t. He didn’t want to. “She’s not planning on staying long, she’s only here on holiday, then she’s going back to uni.”
Back to the city. Away from him. Out of reach.
“Maybe you can find a reason for her to stay.” His mother’s voice was soft and encouraging, but it only made Damrian feel worse.
“I can’t do that,” he said wretchedly. “I don’t want her to stay here if she really wants to be somewhere else. That’s not fair. You and Dad never tried to make each other stay somewhere that you didn’t want to be.”
A shadow passed over his mother’s face. “Sometimes I wonder about that,” she said softly, and her eyes held a faraway look. “Coming here was my idea, not your father’s. I think if I hadn’t pushed him, he would never have left the area near the lair. And if he hadn’t, maybe he would have found his clan long ago.”
Damrian could see the regret in her eyes, hear it in her voice. And he knew he never wanted to worry about Zara regretting staying with him.
“And he could have spent this whole time searching for them and never finding them,” Damrian reminded her. “You and Dad have had a wonderful life here, and we all have too. I bet he wouldn’t change any of it.”
His mother smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I hope so.” She patted his knee. “Anyway, what are you going to do about Zara?”
What was he going to do? Wait, and hope she realised that she cared for him too? Hope they could find a way to make things work so that she didn’t have to give up what she wanted in life to be with him?
But that wasn’t the answer his mum was expectantly waiting for.
Luckily, he did have something she could help him with.
“I want to make things up to Zara, to show her that I really do understand that her degree is important to her.”
His mum nodded, listening.
“Well, the other day, when Zara arrived, I told her she could use one of the huts, but she’d have to work to earn the place,” Damrian began. “At the time, I just thought it might make her feel more at home, and that it’d give me a chance to spend more time with her. But I’ve been thinking that she’d be perfect as a tour guide on one of the glass bottom boats. I mean, who better? She’ll know more about the environment and the creatures on the reef than anyone else.”
His mother looked thoughtful and impressed. “That’s actually a very good idea. Our current guide has been hoping for time off for weeks, but we haven’t had anyone to replace her, and she hasn’t wanted to leave us in the lurch. She’ll be thrilled. And I agree, I think Zara would enjoy it.”
Damrian smiled. It wouldn’t give him the chance to spend more time with Zara, in fact, the opposite, she’d be off on a boat all day while he was elsewhere. But the fact that she might enjoy it more than made up for that.
Chapter 9
“It’s Nemo!” The young boy’s excited voice rang out. He looked over at Zara excitedly.
She couldn’t help grinning. “It is,” she agreed. “Nemo is a clown fish, or Amphiprion percula, and he lives in a symbiotic relationship with that anemone. He’s immune to its poison, and it protects him from predators. In return, his bright colour lures other fish into the anemone, for it to feed on.”
The kids were staring at her, open mouthed. They hadn’t covered all that in Finding Nemo.
She pointed out some other fish, relating them to their characters on the well-known cartoon. The kids listened intently. Their parents too.
Zara relaxed a little. This job certainly was up her alley, as Damien had said. Being on the little glass bottom boat, with everyone sitting on padded seats in a circle around the glass floor in the middle, seeing the reef laid out below them, with all its colour and life, made her feel good.
Being able to educate an eager group of adults and children about the importance and beauty of the reef made her feel like she was doing something useful. Not quite as useful as research on the issues, but almost as good.
“Why is that coral over there all white?” a young girl asked. “I thought it was supposed to all be pretty colours?”
Zara took a deep breath. This was the important bit. “The coral has had a rough time the last couple of years,” she said solemnly. “The ocean temperatures have been higher than usual, and this has caused over half the coral in the Great Barrier Reef to die. We call this bleaching, because the coral loses all the colour caused by the organisms that live in it.”
Most of the people in the boat looked concerned, a feeling that was echoed in Zara’s heart. She’d heard of the bleaching, of course, and had seen photos. But this was her first time seeing it for herself.
Everyone stared silently at the reef they passed over. Far more of the coral was white than coloured, and even though the brightly coloured fish distracted from it somewhat, it still couldn’t be ignored.
“Will it come back?” a boy asked.
Zara considered her options. It would be easy to jolly everyone up with the fact that it was possible for the reef to recover. They were on holiday and probably didn’t want to be depressed. If she were honest, she wanted to believe that herself.
But she couldn’t lie to them. “It’s possible,” she admitted. “There have been previous bleaching events, and the reef has recovered. But we’ve had two in back to back years now. This one is going to be hard to recover from. Impossible if the ocean temperatures keep rising.”
Everyone looked sober. Zara stayed silent for a few minutes, letting them process the information a little. Then she pointed out a huge grey nurse shark, and the attention moved on to more cheerful topics.
She pointed out a sting ray, sea cucumbers, and half a dozen different species of fish. It was hard to keep up with the questions and to keep everything straight in her head. Zara stared down at the ocean floor, looking for anything else she could point out.
That’s when she saw it. The sunlight reflected off something lodged in a piece of coral. Zara squinted, trying to figure out if it was a piece of glass so
meone had dropped over the side of the boat. But it was too round for that.
It almost looked like a scale, but it was larger than any scale she’d ever seen. She couldn’t even imagine what size fish it could have come off.
Unless…
Could it be? Zara stared at it. It did have a faint pink tone to it. Her heart beat a little faster, and she hardly dared hope.
Frustration welled up in her. She wanted to dive over the side of the boat to get a closer look, but that wasn’t really an option right now.
She needed to come back here, without a boat load of people. But how was she ever going to find it again? She stared at the surrounding coral and rocks, trying to imprint the image into her memory. And she lined up with the resort buildings she could see back on the shore.
She’d find it somehow.
She glanced back for one last look, as the boat passed by, excitement rising in her chest. This might be just the clue she was looking for.
She couldn’t wait to tell Damien. He’d be as excited as she would.
It was hard to keep the excitement in, to focus on her job. But the passenger’s questions didn’t stop, and she managed to pull her mind away to let herself get lost in sharing the beauty and wonder of the reef with the group.
Finally, they were pulling back into the jetty. Zara jumped off and helped tie up the boat, then smiled at everyone as they disembarked. Many still had a question or two to ask as they passed, and Zara did her best to answer them all.
A couple with two small kids stopped, and the young boy, the first one to spot the clown fish, tugged on Zara’s hand. “Miss? Can I ask you a question?”
Zara smiled at him. “My name’s Zara. And sure you can.” She bent down to be a little closer to his level and smiled encouragingly. “What is it?”
He paused for a minute, as though searching for words, then they spilled out. “I want to know how we can help the reef,” he said firmly. “I want to see all the pretty colours coming back. And I want the creatures in the coral to have homes.”
Zara’s heart warmed. It should have occurred to her that she should have some ideas ready that were at a child appropriate level. She didn’t want to lecture them about global warming, or make them feel overwhelmed. What she needed were some simple, easy to implement suggestions.
“Well, there are a lot of things you can do to help,” she said firmly. “For instance, did you know that some kinds of sunscreen can hurt coral? It’s easy to make sure you use the right kind of sunscreen. You can also make sure all your rubbish, especially plastic bags, go into the bin, so they don’t end up in the ocean to hurt the creatures who live there.”
The boy looked determined. “I can do that.”
“Where can we find this sunscreen that’s safe to use?” his mum asked. “Do you sell it here at the resort?”
“Um, actually, I don’t know. But I’ll find out for you, and if we don’t, I’ll see if we can get some in.”
Zara actually felt as determined as the little boy looking up at her. It had never occurred to her that she could do something to help here, but giving the boy ideas was giving her some too. She was sure that if she talked to Damien’s mum, she’d agree with her.
“Thanks,” the boy’s mum said with a smile. “Come on now,” she said to her kids. “Lots of people are waiting to get off the boat, we’re holding them up.”
Zara waved to the boy and his mum, then turned back to the next person with questions. But the encounter lingered in the back of her mind, even pushing out the memory of the scale she’d seen out on the reef.
Reef conservation was one of her interests. Not surprising, given that she’d grown up here and spent hours enjoying its beauty. She wanted to be sure her own children could enjoy it one day too.
Up until now, she’d thought the best way to do that was through research, but it occurred to her that she might have a unique opportunity here. Dragon Island Hideaway Resort already did their best to care for the reef, of course, but she could help the visitors here to care for it as well. And perhaps there was more she could do.
She waited impatiently while the rest of the passengers disembarked, then headed up the path towards the resort. She needed to find Damien’s mother and have a chat with her.
Chapter 10
Damrian’s heart gave a leap as he saw Zara marching up the path towards the house. He’d just finished up work and was planning on heading down to the jetty to meet her and ask how her first day as a tour guide had gone, but it seemed she’d beaten him to it.
The determined look on her face made his heart drop. Had something gone wrong?
He beat his mother to the door, opening it and smiling at Zara. “Hey. How’d the day go?”
The smile she gave him reassured him of any fears. “Great. In fact, I have some suggestions.” She looked a little nervous as she said that, wiping her hands on her jeans. “I mean… I know I’m only doing this temporarily, but I thought…” she trailed off, as though her enthusiasm was fading away and glanced in his mother’s direction.
“We’re always interested in hearing suggestions,” his mother said encouragingly. “What have you got?”
Zara took a deep breath and stepped towards his mother. “Well, when I was talking about the reef, some of the kids were asking me about the bleaching, and afterwards, they asked what they could do to help. I thought it might be really handy if we had some options for them. Like if we sell some of the reef safe sunscreens and maybe have a donation box for one of the major foundations working on helping the reef.”
His mother looked thoughtful. “Those are good ideas, Zara. In fact, I’m not sure why we hadn’t already thought of them.” She glanced over at Damrian and gave him a knowing smile.
“See, I told you Zara would be good at this job,” he said.
She nodded, then turned back to Zara. “Damien is right. He usually is.” She gave Zara a wink.
Zara laughed. “He often is, yes.”
Her agreement warmed his heart.
His mother smiled at both of them. “You know, Zara, reef conservation is becoming a very important topic. And it’s always been one of Calrian’s concerns. It’s probably about time we had someone here working on it full time. I’m not up with all the latest research, but I’m sure there are a whole host of things we could be doing that we’re not.”
Zara stared at her, her mouth open. She glanced at Damrian, then back to his mother. “Did Damien put you up to this?” she asked openly.
Damrian winced. Of course she would suspect him. Especially after the conversation they’d had earlier. But that hadn’t been his intention at all.
His mother laughed. “No, he didn’t. Though I’m sure he’d be more than happy to have you stay. But this is a genuine offer. I can see that you feel very strongly about this, and that’s important to us. I’d honestly like you on board, regardless of things between you and Damien.”
Zara glanced suspiciously at him for a minute, searching his face. He met her gaze without flinching, hoping she’d realise that he hadn’t set this up.
Even if he couldn’t help thinking that it was a perfect way for her to use her degree right here on the island.
Zara turned back to his mother. “I’ll think about it,” she said. “Perhaps there’s some way to manage both it and my studies. But right now, what do you think of my idea?”
“I love it,” his mother said promptly. “Write up whatever you need us to do, and give it to Damien. He’ll see that it’s done.”
There was that wary look again, at both him and his mother. But his mother had turned away, back to her paperwork, which was never ending, so Damrian bore the full brunt of Zara’s suspicious stare.
He took her arm and drew her out of the living room, onto the veranda. “I did not put her up to that, I promise. But I do think it’s a good idea. If you don’t have time to do it, maybe you know someone else who would?”
Zara stared at him with narrowed eyes, then laughed. “I’
ll see what I can come up with. Right now though, there’s something else that’s keeping me here.”
For a moment, Damrian dared to hope that might be him, but her next words dashed that idea.
“While I was out in the glass bottom boat, I saw something,” she said, her voice lowered.
Damrian felt his heart beat a little faster despite himself. “What?”
“I think it might have been a scale.” Her voice was still hushed, a little reverent.
For some reason, he was a little disappointed. He’d half expected her to say she’d seen a mermaid. But that was unlikely. And if she had, all those other people on the boat would have seen it too.
But a scale? “Are you sure?” he asked doubtfully. “I mean, a scale has to be pretty small. You’re not really going to be able to make it out through the water and the glass.”
Zara stuck out her chin. “It was a scale,” she said stubbornly. “I’m sure of it. I’ve never seen a shell or coral or anything else that looked like this.”
Damrian regarded her, but she wasn’t budging. “All right. Even if it was, the reef’s a big place. Our chances of finding it again are slim.”
That did cause Zara’s enthusiasm to drop for a moment. She bit her lip, then shook her head. “I don’t care. I know it’s a long shot, but it’s the best clue we’ve found so far. I know roughly where it was. Even if we don’t find it, it’s possible there’s more of them.”
Damrian hesitated. It almost seemed cruel to get her hopes up, nor could he bring himself to dash them. “We can take a look,” he agreed. “But it’ll have to wait until you have time off. By the time the afternoon tour is done, there won’t be enough light for searching.”
“But that’s days away. The water could have shifted it or anything by then,” Zara protested.
“I know,” Damrian agreed. “And besides, you have some research to do for your little project, don’t you?”
For a moment, he thought she was going to argue with him, but in the end, she huffed a little, but agreed. “Fine. But we go first thing when we have time off.”