63. Bree

63

Bree

Three weeks later, Riggs's hand tightened on mine as the four of us stepped through into Cara's garden.

The breeze tugged fitfully at my long, flowing gown. Now that I could grow my own scales, clothes had become an accessory—but I loved the way the dress Cara had given me caught every breeze, alternatively hugging my shapely butt, and then hiding it.

‘Junoesque hindquarters' has more mystique, Caliel stated.

Only if you can pronounce it, Tez argued. And there is nothing romantic about hindquarters. Ass implies— he hesitated, and I sensed him making cupping motions with his hands— something gropable.

Cara hadn't just outfitted me—all my men looked heartstoppingly handsome in their new clothes. Riggs—he might be Razir to many, but to me, he'd always be Riggs—wore a deep-purple tunic suitable for the prince he was, along with leggings that hugged his own butt in a very gropable fashion.

Which explained why I dropped a hand to test my theory.

He arched a brow at me. "We have somewhere to be," he pointed out.

Tez snorted a laugh. "Like that ever means anything to our girl." He looked imposing in his all-black attire.

A large woolly form burst free from the bushes to bear down on us, and Caliel intercepted Grunt before he could get dust all over me. "Hey, there," he said, scritching the horned head. Not that his navy-blue formal apparel would hide the dirt much better, but I appreciated the effort. I couldn't resist, though, offering Grunt a scritch of my own…

"GRUNT!" Nettie emerged along the path, and I blinked. Her gown, the color of her skin, drifted as airily as my own. She waved a couple of ornate hair clips. "Danged beast—I gave him a bath, and he ran off and rolled in the dust. Hold him, will you? I need to put these in."

Grunt was a little damp beneath my fingers. Riggs moved in and risked his princely robes to put the bearing beast into a loose headlock, while Nettie fastened the new hair clips into place. She stood back to survey her handiwork. "That's as good as it will get, methinks."

"Did you find him?" Cara called from a distance.

"He's been captured," Nettie replied.

Seconds later, Cara appeared in an ethereal ensemble that glimmered in the sunlight. "I thought we were meeting you at the palace grounds." She tilted her head. Her eyes drifted from me, across Tez and Caliel, and came to rest on Riggs.

He pulled the sword off his shoulder. "You told me once that you were the keeper of this," he said. "Its job is done. I am returning it."

Cara's brow twitched. "Much as I am grateful that you didn't dispose of it in a lake, what makes you think its job is done?"

Riggs stiffened. "The Empire is restored. What else remains?"

"The Empire is reborn," Cara corrected. "But there is much work yet to do. Finn is loose out there, somewhere in the underworld. We have not been able to find a single trace of him. And Daize may be dead, but enough of his Dragons escaped to be a threat. The Empire also requires restructuring if it is to thrive." She'd counted them off with her fingers, and now she waved them at us.

Riggs shrugged as if none of that involved him. Which was more than a bit of a stretch, considering he was Champion, and destined to help his brother rule. "Others might need the sword more."

"Can you still draw it?" she asked while tapping at her chin.

A pause. And then, his hand closed around the hilt, and he drew it.

We all took a moment to admire the gleaming metal.

"Excalibur will choose when it is ready to move on," Cara stated. "Until then, you are stuck with it, my young prince." She clapped her hands together. "Okay, people. Let's get going. I don't want to be late for Tyrez's swearing-in ceremony. And they won't commence without Razir. Chop chop."

She led us through the gateway, and we emerged to see Jacques waiting for us. The Satyr was resplendent in his brilliant-blue coat with elaborate frills at cuff and throat. The ruffles would appear hilarious on anyone else, but somehow, he carried it well.

"They've been waiting, mes amis ," he said, gesturing to two young Dragons crouched nearby.

I guessed that our robes were not deemed suitable for riding astride, as the Dragons were harnessed to a boxlike contraption that we all, including Grunt, piled into.

"We could have flown," I protested.

"Much more regal to arrive fully dressed," Nettie stated.

With Grunt along for the ceremony, it was a somewhat crowded ride. The Dragons carried us above the forest, and I gasped when I saw the grassland between it and the palace.

It was filled with people. Most in human form, but some in Dragon. I also saw Dires and Sabres among them, along with many others.

Our carriers brought us to the palace proper and landed on a large ledge halfway up the ancient structure. The entire place had been decorated with huge vases of colorful flowers, and even potted ferns and trees.

We disembarked, and Cara slapped Grunt's dust off both Riggs and Tez.

"Sorry," Nettie said, casting an exasperated glance to the bearing beast, currently eyeing the potted plants.

A regal figure approached—Lady Eriana looked every inch the Matriarch. With her were Sirki, Banta, and Treyton.

Behind them, escorted by a phalanx of Bellatis, was Mykal. I knew there had been a lot of discussion around his attendance, but it seemed right for him to be there.

I turned, and saw Tyrez.

He had never looked more like royalty. He was dressed in turquoise robes that glimmered with gold designs stitched across the fabric. His hair hung to his waist. The long front braids were enhanced with metal beads.

Then he met Riggs's eyes.

"Looking spiffy, Leonardo," Riggs said. "Like you're going dancing."

"Shut up, Michelangelo, or I will never let you go on another mission."

"You wouldn't."

"I most certainly would," Tyrez affirmed. Ash and Dani moved up to each side of him. Ash glittered in a golden robe that set off his hair, and Dani wore a smoky black and silver tunic. Her presence here represented many things—but most clearly, it was a sign of change for the Empire.

We all focused as the Matriarch turned and led us to the very brim of the ledge. Tyrez and Riggs moved up to each side of her, and Riggs drew the sword.

Its light bathed us all as Lady Eriana raised her hands for silence. She was instantly granted it.

And as the ceremony began, I realized Grunt was eating the flowers.

Two days after the ceremony, Adilyn fluttered around my head as I pushed my way along the narrow game trail.

"You still look green," she observed.

"What was I thinking? I knew we had an academy training session tonight." I stopped for a moment, willing my stomach to settle. "If I was going to try out your fungus, any other night of the week would have been better."

"I've never heard of anyone getting sick from it," she stated. "Maybe it was something else you ate."

Are you okay? I can help you, Caliel offered. He was working his way along another trail about fifty feet to my right.

I'm fine, now that I've thrown up, I reassured him . If we're going to stick to our timetable, we have to keep moving.

I certainly wouldn't have eaten that stuff. Tez pulled a face.

It did look kind of gross, Riggs agreed.

Well, I certainly had zero inclination to try it again. My stomach gurgled ominously as Team Dragon converged, hunkered down in the bushes along the shore, and stared out at our target.

It sat upon a rocky island. The new and improved Team Dragon was deep in the Empire's realm, and had been granted permission by the Matriarch to use this ancient temple as a training mission. A local tribe of people maintained and guarded it, rather than Dragons.

After all we'd been through, it seemed odd to be back to student status. But Tyrez had permitted Riggs to take time from his duties to continue as a team member, and with Tez and Caliel added to the mix, Cara had insisted we needed the practice. And she was likely right.

Adilyn surveyed the lake with distaste. "Why does every Night Games mission we are sent on involve water?"

"Likely because two of our team members do so well in it," Riggs pointed out.

"At least you can flit across," Sid stated. "I smell like a wet Dire for hours afterward."

He glanced at Tez, as if wishing his teammate to offer words of support. But he was looking to the wrong team member.

"You do, actually," Tez said.

"We could all fly in if they didn't have sentries." Riggs peered at the temple.

"At least we can fly out." I was kind of proud of how well I'd been doing during Riggs's flight lessons.

Your flying is doing much better than your landings. Tez brought me down to earth. After the last one, I was spitting dirt for a full day.

You didn't have to ride me, I growled.

I always want to ride you. Or rather, have you ride me. His eyes gleamed turquoise.

Focus, chanted Caliel, but the pulse along the link indicated he needed to obey his command as much as us. He was in his beast form. I figured his fur would also take a while to dry.

But he never smelled like a "wet Dire."

He shot me a look, and his eyes gleamed vivid blue.

Nar and Leah were so draped over each other, it was a wonder they could even transform. Nar might have almost died, and his scales were permanently scarred in places, but his willingness to risk himself had healed the rift between him and Leah.

It had redeemed him with us, as well. Even if he still had an annoying tendency to collect Adilyn's dust.

I couldn't help but examine the night sky as we joined them in the water. The last time I did this, it hadn't gone according to plan. This time, however, I not only had my own Dragon, but Riggs's as well.

He joined me and Sid as we wound ropes around Nar's sinuous form and held on. Tez and Caliel were with Leah's seal.

We spent as much time beneath the water on the approach as above it. The lake was clogged with huge floating leaves and bright flowers that rose above them. We had to weave through the morass to get to the island.

We reached it without me being scooped by underworld Dragons or the team being spotted by the sentries in the towers along the shore. The overhanging bushes provided cover as we climbed out.

"We'll wait for you across the pond," Leah said.

She and Nar disappeared back into the water as Adilyn and Nemi split up to flit ahead. They scouted for the guards we knew to be patrolling these woods.

I shoved my nose into Caliel's fur. You smell nice, I told him.

Tez rolled his eyes. Remind me to pick up cologne at the market.

Minutes later, our two small spies gave us the all clear, and we slipped past the sentry towers to the temple in the trees.

Tez walked straight out of the bush and up to the two astonished gate sentries. He raised a hand when one started to move an alarm whistle to his lips.

"Stop."

The arm stopped.

"Sleep."

Both sentries dropped on the spot and began to snore.

I could have done that, Caliel commented.

Only by fondling them, Tez responded.

Touching, not fondling, Caliel corrected. Always with you it's about being rude.

I tell it like it is. Tez led us into the building.

The single entry opened up into a large circular area framed by ornate columns. In the center was a deep pond. Ripples in the water indicated that something swam within it. In its very center was our goal—a glowing gem the size of my fist, on a raised pedestal.

"Don't think that's an old bit of farm machinery," Sid commented.

"At least it's small," I said.

Riggs walked closer to the pond, and something swirled within it. "We've got tentacles," he stated as one shot out, narrowly missing him.

Tez drew his knife. "Great. I hate tentacles."

I walked to stand beside Riggs, and raised my arms. "Stand back. I've got this."

Caliel moved up beside me and leaned his shoulder into mine. The warmth of his healing talent spread through me. But Icey was not quite the bitch she used to be. When I called upon her, she came. Quietly, and with focus.

I brought her power up and out. Iced lightning shot from my fingertips toward the pond, and the surface froze in an instant. The tentacles thrashed against it from below, but I kept the freezing going until we had a surface we could walk on.

"Cool," Tez observed.

"Cold," Adilyn corrected.

Caliel continued to lean into me, as though he didn't want the contact to end. When I glanced at him, his eyes shone, and his expression was odd.

"What?" I asked.

"I'll tell you when we're done," he said.

As I stared at Caliel, Riggs rubbed his hands together. "Okay. Sid, Adilyn, and Tez, you keep an eye out for trouble. Caliel, stay here. Bree and I will collect the target."

"You guys always get all the fun," complained Tez. "But I'm warning you—I've seen this movie. That pedestal is probably booby trapped."

"What movie?" Riggs asked with interest.

"The first Indiana Jones ," Tez stated, obviously not expecting Riggs to know it.

"Seen them all." Riggs waved a hand.

Tez's brows climbed. "You've seen them?"

"Tyrez and I have spent a lot of time in the human realm," he said. "Loved going to movies. I'd forgotten about the golden fertility idol scene, though."

Tez looked up. "No boulders hanging over you, so that's something, anyway." He followed Sid and Adilyn out of the entrance.

The tentacled creature tried to hack through the ice as we walked across. I reached for our target, but Riggs stopped me. "Tez has a point." He crouched down to investigate.

I sighed and extended a finger. Didn't stop with the iced lightning until the entire pedestal was fully encased.

Riggs's eyes lit right up. "Indiana Jones would have loved to have you along."

"That would mean a lot more if I had any idea who that was," I commented.

He reached over, and grabbed the gem. We both froze.

Nothing happened.

"Okay, time to go," Riggs said. "Best not to tempt Fate."

There was a grinding sound, and walls began to drop from the ceiling. Riggs grabbed my elbow and all but lifted me back across the pond.

"Hurry!" called Caliel.

We had to drop and roll to pass beneath the walls. If we'd had to wade across the pond while battling tentacles, we would never have made it.

Tez admired the walls as they slid into place behind us. "Almost as good as a boulder."

"Far less squish potential," Riggs said.

I was fighting the wave of nausea that the rolling had caused. Caliel reached out to my elbow, and it receded.

"Damned fungus," I complained.

He waggled his brows at me.

"What?" I demanded.

"We need to be Dragons, if we want to get out of here," Riggs interrupted. "There was bound to be an alarm linked to the pedestal."

Dragon. Right. I reached for her, and she was there. This time I barely even grunted as my Dragon took shape. Tez crawled up on me.

"Try to stick the landing, this time," he stated.

The surge of annoyance helped me launch into the sky faster than Riggs, who was carrying Caliel and Sid.

Alarms sounded as we winged back across the lake. I landed not badly, considering. Only a bit of a faceplant into the water. And Tez refrained from comment as he brushed the damp vegetation from his legs. Leah crawled up behind him, while Nar climbed aboard Riggs. And then we were winging safely back.

Cody waited in a clearing three miles away. My landing there wasn't quite as good—Tez and Leah got tossed into a bristly bush.

They extricated themselves with a minimum of fuss, considering. And the Sabre looked pleased as we handed him the gem.

"Well done, Team Dragon. You guys are utilizing each individual's strengths and working together smoothly. I will sit down with the temple staff tomorrow to get a full assessment of your mission, and will debrief you then."

He took us back through the gateway. Some of the teams were still reporting to the academy, but we were working directly out of the Talon Complex.

We emerged into driving rain. Exhaustion pulled at me, and my stomach roiled again.

Caliel hadn't strayed far from my side since we'd arrived at the checkpoint. As we walked along the causeway, he took my elbow again. Warmth flooded through me, and my gut uncoiled.

"Is she sick?" Riggs hovered at my other side, clearly worried as he met Caliel's gaze.

"Wasn't it just the fungus?" Tez asked. "Maybe it was rotten."

"Fungus is all about rot," Sid provided helpfully.

"My fungus was not rotten!" Adilyn protested.

"It is not the fungus that is making her throw up," Caliel said.

I hated when he got all mysterious. I glared at him. "Do you know what it is, then?"

"Oh, yes. I do." His blue eyes were positively dancing.

It was Adilyn who figured it out. She clapped a tiny hand to her tinier mouth. "No," she breathed.

"Oh, yes," Caliel offered.

"What are you two on about?" Tez snarled.

Riggs suddenly stopped dead. "You're not serious."

"Yes, I am." Caliel was disturbingly impervious to my glower.

I got even more exasperated when Leah gasped. "You don't mean?—"

I stopped dead on the causeway. "Okay. Will somebody please tell me what is going on," I insisted.

"Yes, please do, so we can get out of the rain," Tez complained.

Riggs put his hands on my shoulders. "You, love of our lives, are pregnant ."

The world spun to a halt. I would have denied it with everything I had, but at that moment, the Ice Drake inside me rumbled a purr.

Dammit, she had known . Now her change in attitude made perfect sense. It had happened after I'd been with Tez.

"The Ice Drake delayed their development until she had mated with all three of us." Caliel continued. "You are, therefore, carrying triplets,"

I gaped at him. " Triplets ?"

Tez looked as if something had him by the balls. "Three?"

Caliel cleared his throat. "From what I've sensed, they all have different sires." He sounded a trifle breathless. "We are going to be fathers ."

Him. Tez. And Riggs. "Nikolai knew," I said. "He took my hands when I visited the garden, and then got very mysterious all of a sudden."

"He is Liberi," Caliel said, folding his arm around me. "And very powerful. He sensed it, when I could not. Your Ice Drake has been hiding it. I did not figure it out until you called on her."

"She has been very smug," I admitted.

Leah hugged me. Then Sid did the same. Nar muttered congratulations, and Adilyn, clinging to Sid's hair in the wild wind, said, "I can't wait to see these kids."

Nemi managed to flit to my shoulder, where she cheeped happily, and butted her head against my cheek. Tez merely pulled me to him, and kissed me. "She is happy for us, mi madrecita ."

"What does that mean?" I whispered.

"My little mother," he said softly.

Riggs moved in, and Tez shot him a look. Then with a final caress to my cheek, he backed away.

As the others moved on, whispering excitedly, I looked up into Riggs's metallic gaze. He cupped his big hand around my jaw, and then, he opened his heart to me.

It flooded along the link. Caliel and Tez added their own emotions to it—excitement, anticipation, and finally, a surge of passion that penetrated to my very core.

Riggs took my hand and towed me along the causeway.

Bathing pool. Now, he insisted.

Definitely, Caliel agreed, slinging his arm around my waist.

From behind us, Tez sighed. What is it with you guys and water? We could get just as wet standing in the frigging rain.

You want to fuck in the rain? Riggs asked.

That is so not what I said, Tez snarled.

Caliel pulled me close as the banter continued through my head.

Contentment spread from my inner Ice Drake, to permeate every fiber of my being.

I was where I belonged.

With my family.

Which was destined, it seemed, to grow by three…

Feel the grief and joy Tez experiences when he lets go of one kindred spirit while surrounded by his newfound family.

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