Chapter Twenty-Two

Rhyse

"W ell, this is pretty romantic, I have to admit."

I grinned to myself, basking in the victory.

"You know I can feel that, right? Every bit of that smugness comes through loud and clear."

"Yyyyep," I dragged out.

I didn't care.

Emma laughed from where she lay on the stomach of my dragon as I slowly sculled us through the ocean, gently bobbing with the current as the sun began its final descent below the horizon ahead of us.

I had to admit, perhaps the sovereign had been right after all.

She'd asked me, when I'd visited the day before, if my decision was any different. I'd told her I was still unsure of it all.

It was amazing what could change in such a short time. With the breaching of the boundary between us, the conflict had begun to fall away. The dislike of each other swiftly morphed into more than that.

Even when I'd been at the palace, I'd wanted to be back. With Emma. Leaving her hadn't felt right, but my trip to the palace wasn't one I wanted her to join me on.

I didn't want her to see the way everyone stared at me.

"Are you okay?" she asked, sitting up suddenly. "What was with that mood change?"

"Nothing," I said as my tail pushed us farther along while my wings spread out far to the sides, absorbing much of the bobbing from the waves though there wasn't much to begin with. "Just a brain being a brain. It's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Very," I said.

The intensity of my dislike at being apart from her had surprised me. Although I hadn't told Emma, I'd spent much of the flight there and back trying to figure it out.

Unfortunately, not going was out of the question. Having discovered the wreck of Vicek's ship, I had to report in. Not just that it had been discovered but that there were very obviously signs of dragon attack on the vessel. The claw marks on the underside of the boat were unmistakable. It was clear what had sent it to the bottom of the sea.

Then there were my suspicions about Killian and his group's activity. If he was behind the ongoing attacks on human vessels, it would explain his anger at being called away for the war. Perhaps it explained his anger toward me as well. Did he think I was muscling in on his territory?

I grimaced. I would have to be very careful in the future until this was solved. I didn't doubt for a second Killian would hesitate to kill me if he thought I was onto him.

"Hey. Earth to Rhyse. What's going on in there? This is supposed to be cute and happy. That's what romantic means. Can you stop the flow of morbid thoughts, please, whatever they're about?"

"Sorry," I grunted. "You're right."

"I know I am," she teased. "It's good to know you accept it as well."

I laughed. "I will roll over and give you a good dunking if you keep that up."

"That's cheating," she said, crossing her arms with a pout.

But she was laughing on the inside.

We didn't say much for a while after that, falling into a comfortable silence. Together. Emma lay back, watching the sunset as the light faded from the horizon and darkness set in, moving across the sky and bringing with it the glittering of the stars.

"We're safe out here, right?"

I couldn't help it. I laughed at the question. "There's not a creature in the ocean that will mess with me, I promise you that," I told her. "I'm faster than a swordfish. Ten times the size of a great white. My jaw can deliver more force than the bite of an orca. It is they who should fear me. Not the other way around. I swear to you, nothing will harm you."

The shiver that ran down her spine was strong enough for me to feel through my scales.

"That's good to know," she said. "But I wasn't exactly referring to that. I was thinking other dragons."

"You mean Killian and his gang," I said, filling in the blank.

"Yes."

"We're within sight of shore. He won't try anything. Too many would hear or see it. You're safe. You can relax and enjoy the stars. I'll do the rest. Trust me."

"Okay."

She relaxed into her lounging once more, and we both watched the stars emerge.

"They're beautiful," Emma whispered.

One hand began to rub my scales casually. It was so offhand, I doubted she was aware of her actions.

I slowly twisted us around, using the barest minimum strength of my tail to direct us, gently sculling toward shore. I didn't want to let us get too far out.

"The sky is so pretty out here," she said. "There's so little light. Everything is just … I've seen the night sky before in the remote wilderness, but it's different out here somehow. Clearer. Maybe it's being able to see all the way to the horizon. I don't know. But it really is something."

"One of my favorite things to do is lounge out here like this," I said.

"Thank you for bringing me here."

I smiled to myself. She couldn't see my dragon head, not where it was in the water far ahead. But she could feel my reaction.

"Thank you for trusting me. That meant a lot."

And it had. Things between us were progressing in a way neither of us had planned. It was all so new, so unexpected. Having earned her trust like this was a good feeling.

She stiffened, and I sensed the curiosity giving way to uncertainty.

"Is something on fire?"

I dragged my neck and head around until I could see where she pointed on the shoreline. As I watched, another fire flickered into existence thirty or forty feet away.

"Wood, yes," I said. "Those are just campfires. Looks like there's going to be a beach party tonight."

Emma brightened. "Beach party? I haven't been to one of those in ages. Is it fun?"

It was rare for me to be seen at one of the beach parties. It wasn't something that interested me. But Emma wanted to go—I could sense it. And if she had fun sitting by the fire, listening to the music and enjoying the general festivities, then I could certainly suck it up for a little while.

"Do you want to go?" I asked.

"Seriously? We can go?"

"If you stay with me, yes," I said, eager to do whatever it took to make her happy.

I would ignore the looks for a little bit.

For her.