Page 17 of Emerald Waves (Primordial Protectors #2)

“In every way imaginable,” Raven explained.

“When you have someone else’s needs, desires, and dreams to consider, there is far less of a tendency to overreact or be impulsive.

Tell me, Caro, what would you have done after your encounter in the cave, if you had not been more concerned about what you sensed from your mate than what you’d experienced at the hands of the ones you’d encountered? ”

“I’d have hunted for them until I ferreted out where they were hidden, even if it meant tracking them along the earth’s core for weekends on end until I’d exacted my vengeance,” I admitted.

“And no doubt started a war in the process,” Ionus growled.

“And given me my first gray hair when none of us heard hide nor hair from you while you were doing it. I am still furious to learn that you were attacked and rendered helpless and kept it from me. What if you had been imprisoned instead of left adrift and floundering beneath your beloved waves. At those depths, none of us but Mattias would have been able to help you. You could have been lost to us and that is not acceptable. Have you ever once considered the damage we could have done and the offenses we might have caused in our hunt for you? I’ve always known that you dove deep, slipping between earth and water, knowing we couldn’t track you or find you if you didn’t wish to be found, but now I’m left to wonder if there haven’t been other times when you were in peril that I have no clue about?

I still can’t feel your dragon, but I can feel what this encounter has done to you, and it scares me, brother.

You damn near terrified the scales off me upstairs.

I thought you were dying, and yet you still tried to push me away. ”

“You weren’t the only one who thought I was dying,” I admitted. “The noise in my head was like being stabbed by a million diamond shards.”

“And yet you still thought that I would allow you to return the statue on your own.” Ionus huffed. “That alone tells me that you weren’t really thinking at all.”

“I still don’t see how you intend to accompany me to depths that would crush even you,” I growled, because there I was, catching yet another lecture from him.

Yeah I’d fucked up. I’d removed an artifact that, in hindsight, I should not have touched.

I did not give what I’d seen enough consideration, if I had, I’d have recognized that what took place in the cave was a defense mechanism after I’d invertedly surprised the Merdragons residing in it.

Instead, I’d convinced myself that the glimpse of them I’d gotten was a hallucination brought on by the hellacious headache I’d been left with after my encounter with them.

I hadn’t thought, I hadn’t taken the time to consider all the legend and lore I’d amassed over the years.

I knew that every sea monster myth and cryptid creature encounter stemmed from something naturally occurring, though perhaps a bit too illusive for humans to be able to prove the existence of.

Hadn’t I catalogued the source of many of those encounters over the years?

And taken great pleasure in laughing at the stupidity and outlandishness of humans?

Way too many times to count.

And yet I’d ignored what my dragon’s eyes had witnessed and swam off with that artifact without a thought.

Yeah. I’d fucked up. I owed our Merdragon relations my most sincere apology and assurances that I would be more cautious of where I poked around in the future.

Clearly I was not the only dragon of the sea.

In fact, it seemed to me now that it might be more their home than mine and perhaps I shouldn’t be dabbling in Mattias chosen element.

How sobering was that.

“I see you’re thinking about it,” Ionus said. “Good, now, get out of your head, reconnect with your dragon, and help Raven figure out how you and Mattias can share your abilities with us.”

“Get into the water, Caro and Mattias,” Raven encouraged.

“Let it flow over you and call forth your dragons, and Caro while you are at it, make sure you apologize for the pain you stubbornly forced you both to endure and whatever insensitive things you might have said to him when he attempted to aid you.”

“Yes, High Priestess,” we said in unison, though I truly did not wish to go into that pool.

I did it though, if only because my brothers were watching and I already felt like I’d exposed too many hidden concerns today.

To say that I was scared of the element second to my own would have topped every other bit of shame, real and perceived, I’d experienced today.

I still had not had the opportunity to explore Odem’s reaction to my horde and how badly I’d misjudged him when it came to that.

Something told me that when I truly got to the heart of the matter it would turn out to be another of my insecurities.

Go figure.

It seemed like I had more of them than I’d even been aware of or maybe I’d just been steadily ignoring them and everything else I hadn’t wanted to deal with by hiding beneath the waves and seafloor where I’d believed they couldn’t find me.

And in the process, I found myself in one hell of a mess with that artifact.

Go me.

I did as I was instructed, shedding my clothes and slipping into the pool with a shudder I hoped I’d been able to conceal from them.

Dragon, dragon can you hear me?

Nothing. Not even the barest stirrings of him. Okay, I supposed I deserved that.

Dragon, please, I am sorry. I’ve been unkind to you in many ways recently, refusing to listen when you attempted to council me about our mate and the potential damage I was doing to him and to us by staying away instead of reaching for what we both needed.

I’m sorry for that and for not doing as you asked and allowing my brothers into our life and our horde, that wasn’t fair to them or to you when you longed to share the beauty of our undersea world with them.

I promise that I will stop thinking so much about what I think I want and give more consideration to what we need.

Please forgive me. I know that I caused us both pain we didn’t need to endure by being stubborn.

I can do better. I will do better. I need your help and guidance now, so that we can share our abilities and right the mistakes I’ve made.

There was a low rumble in the back of my head as my dragon uncoiled and allowed his scales to flow over my body again.

In that instant, my fear of water melted away, and in the process taught me that it was my fear, never his, that had been holding me back since the sound in the deep overwhelmed me.

This time I will forgive you, human, do not let there be another misstep this severe.

I won’t.

Good, then we will begin by touching our gemstone, it is from it that we will need to draw the power to share with our brothers.

Thank you.

Thank me by trusting them all more, and for the love of all that is scaly, trust me, human, for we are one. You, me, Emerson, his dragon, your brothers, all the mates they will bring to our family. We are one. When you can embrace that, there is nothing we won’t be able to accomplish.

I will strive to do so.

We shall see. Now touch our stone, human, I long to feel it as do you.

Reaching out, I could actually see my hand beneath the claws, then both gave way to our purely earthen form. It was the first time I’d ever been able to see myself inside of him, realizing it was never meant to be the other way around. We were dragons first, not human.

Yes. Remember that before you tell me to go away again, or you might discover what it’s like to be imprisoned when I decide not to let you back out.

Well shit, I’d never known that was an option, but now that I did, I’d be certain not to piss my dragon off again.

Smart human. There might be hope for you yet.