Page 34 of Emerald Waves (Primordial Protectors #2)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Emerson

I was thankful Caro had finally given me the time it required to properly sort through all the boxes.

It took several days, but I appreciated his understanding of my need to complete the tasks on my own.

These archives were my babies and as my stomach grew with our actual child it took longer than normal to maneuver my way through them.

We still slept with our bodies intwined after making love most nights. Our dragons’ purrs, having been sated by our coupling, lulled me into a deep sleep in the dead of night. This was my life now and there wasn’t a single thing I’d change about it. Not even where my helicopter mate was concerned.

“Emerson,” Caro knocked on the library door as I glanced around at the once ridiculously packed space, proud of what I’d accomplished. Now, they were as safe as baby Denarius, and I were.

“Yes?”

“Larkin is here, and he wishes to speak with you.”

What in the world could my adoptive father, really the only true parent I’d ever known, wish to discuss with me. “Come on in.”

Larkin slid between Caro and the door, his eyes shimmered and his smile widened as he took in my expanded abdomen. “Pregnancy suits you. You’re absolutely radiant.” He hugged me the best he could, and happiness bubbled through me. Our dragonet was elated and in very good spirits today.

“I hate to bring down this joyous moment,” Larkin slid his phone from his vest. “But I need to know if you recognize either of the prisoners and if so if you can tell us anything about them. They’re refusing to talk.”

One glance at Caro said he knew nothing of this.

If you don’t want to, just say no.

I want to help.

The decision is yours to make, my love.

“Okay.” He brought up the first guy and I shook my head. “No clue who he is.” But the second one, my legs gave out and before I hit the floor Caro had scooped me up and gently deposited me across the room on the couch.

“Mate? Your face is so pale. What happened?”

“That’s, that’s.” I couldn’t even bring myself to say the word, the man was the polar opposite of what a caring parent should be. “That’s my sperm donor.”

“Sperm don…” Caro paused, and his jaw tightened so hard I feared he’d crack his teeth. “Aye.”

Larkin caught the meaning right away and nodded. “Good to know.”

I feel your rage, Caro, but trust me when I say he isn’t worth it.

Just a little pain?

Remember the grief you felt over taking a life.

Yes, but he sent you out to die and as a youth. That’s unacceptable.

Death would be too kind for him.

Knowing that horrible man was this close to my family infuriated me. “They came for me. He knew I was here, but the question remains, who’s the mole that alerted him of that?”

That was by far scarier than knowing he was in the town I now called home. I was well protected within the compound walls and given I worked from here as well, there wasn’t a single reason for me to leave this place. I was perfectly content within these walls.

My life, my heart, my soul—everything had changed for me.

The once timid, shy, afraid of his own shadow man was gone.

Replaced by a strong husband and soon to be father.

I’d protect our child with my life as I would my mate, though as a protector he would likely never call on me to do so.

But I’d be there in a heartbeat if he had.

How many lives have the Gorynych ruined? How many senseless deaths have they caused? And now, they wish to seek out all the outcasts for their own gain.

Not on my watch.

And that’s a hill I’ll die on.

Ionus, Mattias, Odem, and Quint burst into the library right as I said, “We need to do everything we can to find all the outcasts before the Gorynych do and bring them to a safe place if they haven’t already found their mates. It’s clear that’s what they’re after.”

“Aye, and fast,” Ionus replied. “Larkin, I want to meet with the prisoners. Anything we should know first, Emerson?”

“The man didn’t have time for a son whose nose was buried in books.

The final disappointment was my lack of shifting.

The most he ever said to me was to yell how worthless I was and that if he had to, he’d beat the dragon out of me.

Needless to say, the beatings didn’t produce the results he wanted.

” At least my dragon blood healed the wounds and broken bones.

Too bad nothing could erase the mental ones.

I’ve got you now, mate.

I know .

“Simmer down, Caro. We can’t question a dead prisoner.”

“I have no issues with that. There’s still one more.”

Mate, word will get back. We need to find out who the Gorynych informant is and deal with them first.

Trust me, I will and when I find them, they’ll regret it.

“Does anyone have a clue as to who the informant is?” Mattias asked, solidifying what I’d already assumed, Caro had shared our earlier conversation with his brothers.

“None,” Larkin was the first to speak. “The dragons I fly with I trust implicitly.”

“If I recall correctly,” I flipped through the stack of papers on my desk out of habit even though I knew what I sought wasn’t there. “I could be wrong, but Larkin, isn’t there a database with all the Dragon City residents in it?”

“Yes, for shifters, but not for humans.”

“Bingo!” Odem chimed.

“Yes, bingo indeed,” Ionus growled. “The shifter database includes blood samples and clan lineage. Emerson, would you be able to sift through that and look for anything that stands out? How had we not thought to seek out those clans from the onset?”

“Absolutely, I’d be happy to help.”

“I’ll give him access to it,” Larkin replied. “Now, the question remains, how do we interrogate the humans without causing a scene? We never worried much about them because they posed no threats to us.”

That was a leader problem to figure out, I had enough on my plate. Before I could dive in though, our little one growled.

“I need to feed my mate. I’ll be right back.”

Helicoptering for the win!

Caro, our little one is chattering away today. The hum of his voice…his. Caro, it’s a boy!

A dish dropped and crashed a moment before my dragon flew into the room, scooped me up and swung me around as he announced, “It’s a boy!”

The brothers and Larkin cheered around us. I’d never smiled as much as I had since mating with Caro.

“Cade,” the name came to me. “With a C not a K, so he’s like his Papa.”

“Cade with a C it is!” Caro peppered my face with kisses until our little one growled again. “My bad, my boy. Papa will feed you now.” My mate whistled a silly toon as he, wait, was he skipping? I shook my head at his silly antics, but he was one happy dragon.

And we made him that way, Cade.

“You’ve breathed new life into my brother.” Ionus voice startled me. “Sorry, thought you heard me walk up. Thank you, Emerson, for bringing our brother back to us. He’d been lost for some time.”

How does one reply to that? Certainly not with the tears that filled my eyes.

“Damn hormones,” I complained as I wiped away the tears. “Thank you, Ionus.” The fear I once felt in his presence was no longer there, though I’d still do my best to never get on his bad side.

“Yes, Alex had uncontrollable hormones during his pregnancy as well,” he smiled fondly as he recalled my besties pregnancy.

“But, back to today’s findings. If we start going one by one through the humans, some of which are mated to dragons as well, it will raise too many questions. What are your thoughts on this?”

All eyes were on me like we’d just solved world peace. Being the center of attention was not, nor will it ever be, on my Bingo card.

“My first thought was it had to be someone who either came to town when I did or shortly after. Someone who knew who I was and had possibly been sent to keep a watchful eye over me. With no data kept on the humans, it will be tough to maneuver through this. Over the years the resident count in Dragon City has quadrupled.”

“True,” Larkin chimed in. “And the entire town knows you’re not only mated to a protector, but that you carry his egg.”

There was no need to repeat any of this to Caro. Dragon hearing meant he’d heard the words loud and clear, being just down the hall from the library, in the kitchen.

He placed a rather large bowl of pasta in front of me. “How am I expected to eat all of that?”

“You’re not. Consider it a picnic for two, oops, three, in the library.” He rolled out the silverware and placed a napkin on my lap. “I’ll be right back.” A few moments later, in came a bowl of salad and two beverages. “Juice for my love.”

As of late, Cade had been the cause of my grape juice obsession. The boy and I had at least two gallons a day, I swear.

“Thank you.”

“I agree with Emerson,” Caro said as I shoveled food in.

Guess I was hungrier than I’d thought. “First off, how would they know he even landed here when he’d wandered aimlessly for days before you found him, Larkin?

They either had a spy following him then, which is highly unlikely, or they found another they’d cast out who’d shifted after expelled and decided to send scouts out to hunt down the others. Starting with dear old dad’s boy.”

“That makes complete sense,” Mattias agreed, “and leads me to believe there might possibly be a mole in most, if not all, clans.”

“Proceed with caution,” Odem mumbled, and the brothers readily agreed.

“Aye,” Ionus nodded.

“What if we start by accessing the driver’s license records. Dragons don’t require licensing, but humans do. Sort it by date and work forward from when you brought Emerson home.” I appreciated that Odem used the word home. Living with Larkin truly was my first home.

“In the meantime, keep all eyes and ears open,” Larkin addressed the group. “Emerson, I’m sure you’re already thinking it, and I know Caro is as well, but if you could stay put and not venture into town, that would be a huge weight off us.”

“Consider it done. I’ll not do anything to put myself or Cade in harm’s way.”