quickly once the last traces of those who had invaded our ancestral lands had been washed away. Several bodies had drifted past my sheltered position, guided on by the gentle currents down toward the castle. In the last hour, boats had come out to collect them, while others searched for survivors. No boats came near me. The loch saw to that.
Awareness tingled across my skin, and the warmth that always came with Trae’s presence flooded my senses.
“There’s cops and emergency services crawling all over your mom’s place,” he said, sitting down beside me. His clothes were bloody and mud-splattered, and he smelled of smoke and fire. “And the rumors have already started about what was really going on up there.”
“Well, there’s no hiding the pens, no matter how much damage the water did.” I pressed my body against his, needing the contact, needing the strength and warmth of his touch. “How are the kids?”
He smiled. “Little Carli’s going to be a heartbreaker when she’s older. And Jace is far too wise for his years.”
“Yeah, I noticed.” I watched the water swirl past a nearby outcrop of rock, then asked, “So are they happy to be free? Anxious to get home?”
“The boys are. I don’t really think Carli remembers all that much about her family. I left them eating pizza, drinking Coke, and watching TV.”
“And with strict orders not to answer the phone or open the door, I hope.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about that. Jace has them well under control.”
“He’s a good kid.”
“Yeah.” He slipped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer. “How’s your leg?”
The wildness was back in his bright eyes, fiercer than before. Only this time, it didn’t seem like a wildness that couldn’t be tamed. This time, it was the wildness of a man who had been fighting for what was his.
My heart did this happy little dance, but the rest of me was simply too tired to join in.
“The leg is sore, but survivable.” The cold of the water had taken the vast majority of pain from it, and the magic that still spun around us had begun the healing process. But it would be a few days yet before I could put any real weight on it.
Dawn began flanking the dark edges of the sky, sending small flags of pink and yellow breaking across the blackness. The energy in the air was growing, tingling across my senses, dancing across the water.
The loch tugged more fiercely at my mother’s legs, wanting an ending. Wanting a new beginning.
Tears stung my eyes. I blinked them away and watched the sky, listening to the growing music of dawn, waiting for the moment when the energy peaked. Trae was a silent, watchful presence by my side, warming me in ways I couldn’t even begin to describe.
As the slivers of color truly began to flood the darkness, and the warmth of the coming day broke the chill of night, the dance of energy sharpened, burning across my skin, sparkling across the top of the water.
It was time.
I took a breath and briefly closed my eyes, seeking the strength to do this, to let her go when all I really wanted to do was grab and hold her and beg her not to leave me, too. But of course, it was all too late for that. She was gone in body if not yet spirit, and to bind her to this earth now would be nothing short of selfishness. Especially given everything she’d already suffered.
Trae squeezed my shoulder, as if sensing my reluctance. I gave him a quick smile, took another deep breath, then said softly, “The Gods of loch and sea, I call on thee.”
The water began to swirl around my feet, around my mother’s body, tugging at us both. Wanting us both, but for different reasons.
“And the Gods of air and land, I call on thee.”
Mist formed across the surrounding hills, spreading vaporous fingers down their flanks, reaching quickly toward the water. The air felt suddenly cooler, thicker, the energy of dawn stronger. Every breath was filled with the power of it, until it felt like my whole body was vibrating to its music. Tiny sparks danced across my skin, leapt off into the water, and skipped across the waves.
“Guide your daughter on her final journey,” I said, still holding on to my mother, not letting her go just yet. “Help her find the peace and happiness in the forever lands that she could not find here.”
The fingers of mist drew close, creeping past my legs, wrapping around my mother’s body. Her body began to glow with a cold blue light, and the vapor around her began to twirl and dance, the movement almost joyous. Then the blue light broke free, streaming upward, into the mist and beyond, reaching for the forever plains and my dad.
With her spirit free, the mist and the light retreated. As the magic of dawn began to fade, the dark water tugged even more fiercely on my mother’s body.
“Take her to where our ancestors lie,” I whispered, as I released her. “Hide her well.”
There was a splash of water, and she was gone. I closed my eyes, battling the ache, fiercely fighting the grief that welled up my throat. There was time enough for that later. Right now, there was me, and there was Trae, and the magic that still danced across the dark water. Still danced through me.
“God, I’m sorry—” he said softly.
“Don’t,” I cut in. “It’s what she wanted.”
“But you’ve lost—”
“Don’t,” I repeated, then rose unsteadily, balancing precariously on one leg. “We need to go farther into the water.”
He raised his eyebrows, but rose. “It’s freezing in that lake.”
“What if I promise to keep you warm?”
A smile played across his lush lips. “Tempting, but let’s face it, the cold will still play havoc with the better parts of me.”
“The loch won’t affect you like that. Trust me,” I said softly.
He studied me for a moment, blue eyes serious despite the smile teasing his lips. “Why is this so important?”
“Because it’s a tradition in sea dragon families.” I hesitated, knowing the importance of what I was asking, and hoping like hell I hadn’t misread everything I’d been feeling and seeing in him. “When one sea dragon dies, we celebrate his or her life by creating another.”
“Ah.” He touched my cheek lightly, then ran his fingers down to my lips. My body quivered under his touch, desire spreading like wildfire. “I see.”
“Do you?” I asked, my gaze searching his intently. “This
“The thief was a goner the minute the woman with wild-looking hair decided to play chicken in the middle of an Oregon highway.”
He smiled, and there in his eyes was all the emotion I could ever want. Love, desire, need. It was right there, a fierceness shining in the brightness of his eyes. And the ache in my heart eased a little, because while I might have lost my parents, I’d gained something else. A lover, a companion, a friend. A man who would be with me, stand by me, no matter what happened, for the rest of my life.
“You couldn’t escape me now, even if you wanted to,” he added, then leaned forward and kissed me. “You complete me, Destiny. There’s no other place I want to be, and nothing else I’d rather do than walk into that water with you and celebrate your mother’s life. I just wish it wasn’t so fucking cold.”
I laughed, gloriously, deliriously happy for the first time in years and years, and threw my hands around his neck. “God, I’m so glad you said that, because I’ve been in love with you for what seems like forever. I was just too chicken to say anything.”
He kissed me, soft and slow and oh-so gloriously, and then I helped him strip. When he was finally naked, we walked into the deeper water. It was cold, but I didn’t care, and he didn’t seem to, either.
He pulled me close. I melted against him, wrapped my arms around his neck, and kissed him again, hard and fierce, until my head was spinning and I wasn’t sure whether it was lack of air or sheer happiness.
After that, his touch and his lips seemed to be everywhere, fueled by urgency and yet filled with passion. I let my fingers roam, giving them the freedom of his glorious body, touching and tasting and teasing, even as he
