29. Twenty-nine

twenty-nine

"This is bullshit!" I was screaming like a seagull and I didn't care. Tears tracked down my face and I angrily brushed them away.

Drym reached for me again and this time I let him pull me into his arms. The underside of his jaw pressed into the back of my head and his warmth seeped through me. My anger gave way to despair.

I loved him.

The realization hit me like I was being tagged in dodgeball. I'd fallen in love with him and the very idea that they could recapture or kill him made my heart shrivel into a tiny marble.

I felt more than heard his words, my ear pressed tightly to his chest. "It will be alright. We will plan for every contingency." He chuckled without mirth. "It's what they designed us for, after all."

"I'll go."

Everyone's heads swung to Roul. He stood staring at the ground, his posture stiff, his hands curled into fists.

Kragen was shaking his head. "You know you can't. We will need you in case something goes wrong." He looked at Zeus. "The same goes for Thurl, Cavi, and Quin. It has to be me or Drym."

I knew, before the decision was made, that it would be Drym. Kragen was first in command, the most strategic mind. Drym was no slouch, but even he'd admitted Kragen was first and he was second for good reason.

I wrapped my arms around Drym's waist and held on tight. It was irrational, but my mind was telling me that if I somehow managed to hang on, nothing bad could happen to him. I could keep him from going.

Eventually he lifted me into his arms, cuddling me close as I cried. I didn't listen to the others making their plans. Drym crouched with me still curled in his arms and I cried myself to sleep.

I woke up when he stood. The others wore grim faces, even Bacon.

Bull was packing away his laptop, signaling the meeting was over.

"Can we put a tracker on him?"

The others seemed startled I was awake.

"Just in case?"

Cavi was shaking his head. "They will scan him from head to toe. They'll be expecting it."

Zeus looked directly at me. "With the mate bond in place, you might be able to track him. The bond works differently for weres and dragons. Weres typically can feel their mate's emotions, even across vast distances. The dragon bond is more like a tether, from what I understand. Invisible to everyone but the mated pair, it's like a string that connects them so they can find their way to one another across the globe."

I felt Drym stiffen beneath me. Did he not know that? Did he not want that? I crawled from his arms and looked at him, ready to tell him to forge the bond right then and there, but the look on his face stopped me.

As long as they didn't intend to take him away right that second, I had time. I would wait until we were alone and then find out why he seemed so resistant to the idea.

Sure, he'd said earlier he wanted me to think over the implications of being mated for life before making the decision, but time was the one thing we didn't have.

There were issues that needed to be sorted, but that would just have to happen later.

"So what's the plan?"

Zeus and Kragen shared a look and Zeus launched into how they planned to trap a madman and a fae. "I'll ask to meet with a fae acquaintance tomorrow at dusk. We often share information, so it isn't out of the ordinary for us to meet this way. While I'm speaking with him Drym will reveal himself as if on accident.

"That should be enough to get the attention of both the fae council member and Mr. Blue. All we have to do from there is wait for one—or preferably both—of them to show up."

"What if the fae doesn't tell the council member what they see during your meeting?" I tugged at my shirt hem, but it wasn't my clothes making me so uncomfortable.

Zeus chuckled. "Oh, he will. He's notorious for his inability to keep a secret."

I nodded because if I tried to speak I'd break down in tears again.

Bacon and Bull packed up their computers. She hopped off the table and scanned the room, even looking under the single piece of furniture and around the other ‘fangs. She stood up and sighed.

"Cluck, cluck, Meanosaurus! Time to go!"

Several of the ‘fangs winced at the volume of her voice.

Bull snorted. "How often do you lose that bird?"

Bacon mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, "Not often enough."

With a squawk and wings that flapped furiously, the fowl in question emerged from a tunnel. Her beak was clamped around insects stacked three deep and two high. All I could really see of her face was wriggling legs and the end of her wide, stretched beak.

Quin reared back in horror. "That's disgusting."

Meanosaurus said something unintelligible.

Bacon rolled her eyes. "It's bad manners to talk with your mouth full."

The chicken harrumphed, which was another new experience for me.

Roul took the lead, showing them the way out of the cave system.

"It's three o'clock in the morning. I'll be back around three this afternoon for any final preparations." Zeus was the last to leave, giving me one last, weighted look before disappearing into the gloom.

I don't know if it was the stress, or the energy expended during all the mind blowing orgasms, but I was drained. I grabbed my small lantern and made my way back to Drym's room. My feet felt made of lead and my fingertips dragged the ground. Metal pellets replaced my brain and every sound was replaced with a dull whoosh.

I only knew Drym followed me from the heat of his hand on my lower back.

When we got to the room, I collapsed onto the pile of blankets. I didn't look up at him. My head was too heavy for my neck to lift.

"I want to forge the bond."