Page 14 of Singing the Dragon’s Heart

Chapter

Fourteen

R eno took Kami with him once his time off was over, wanting to assess his skills.

If his mate was going to be off running missions, he needed to be okayed by the training master.

And that was Reno.

As it was, it took him about three weeks to get Kami into the training room. They had a rescue that had to happen in between, another two omegas coming to make their home at the keep.

“So are they settling in?” Kami kept peppering him with questions about the mission, wanting to know how it was carried out and what went right and wrong.

“They are. I mean, I’m not the one who’s debriefing them, but?—”

“But they’re okay?”

“Well, one is without a stone.” They’d been over this, but Kami really seemed to feel left out. Which sucked. Oh, he was settling in too. He and Lake had become fast friends, and while Tempest seemed to wig Kami out still, he loved little Blue and Scarlet.

“Ah.” Kami’s eyes glowed when Reno glanced back at him, and Reno raised an eyebrow.

“Did you want to go commune with the stones?”

“What? No.” But Kami seemed to vibrate some.

He wasn’t fooling Reno at all.

“That’s fine, hailee.” Reno motioned to the mat. “Ready to spar?”

“I am.” Kami dropped his towel and kicked off his shoes.

Reno did the same thing, then took a fighting stance.

Kami faced off across from him, hands up. They circled each other, and Reno feinted, knowing how fast Kami could be. He had to test what his mate could do.

Coming in low, Kami went after his knee.

He backed off, falling and rolling. Then he hopped up and grabbed Kami, tossing him like a sack of potatoes to the mat.

“Nice.” Kami gave him a wild grin. “Let’s go again.”

They sparred, and Reno was damn impressed with Kami’s skills. Such a fine fighter. What he lacked in brute strength, he made up in speed and strategy.

But after one move where Reno spun him around and landed him on the mat on his back, Kami turned damn green, his eyes widening.

“Bathroom!”

Rather than trying to point it out, Reno picked up his mate and hauled him there in a rush, where Kami proceeded to heave up his guts.

“Oh, gods. Nasty,” Kami moaned.

“Something you ate, baby?” Reno ran some water into a paper cup that was by the water cooler.

“We ate the same thing!”

“Hmmm.” He handed Kami the water, and he rinsed and spit.

“Ugh.” Kami sat back on the floor. “Sorry.”

“You can’t have motion sickness.”

“Gods no. But something is definitely wrong.” Kami put a hand over his belly. “Yuck.”

“Hey, I think that it’s time to stop. Once you throw up, that’s the end of training for you right now, today.”

Kami looked like he was going to argue, but Reno just held up one hand. “It’s not my rule. That’s the training salle rules, sorry. Nobody wants to clean it up. Nobody wants to smell it.”

And that set Kami off again.

Boom.

Okay, so no talking about it, that was for sure.

“God. I need something fizzy,” Kami groaned.

“Sure, that sounds like a plan. Let me run out and get you something.”

He headed out to the little cooler that they kept in the training room. It was filled with water and different juices and drinks. There was even a bubbly orange drink in there that everybody seemed to love. So he grabbed that along with one that was lemon and lime and headed back toward the bathroom.

One of the newer warriors came jogging up, expression so serious. “Reno, Sir.”

Oh damn. “Yeah, what you need, kid?”

“Seer Cain asked if you and your mate could please come to the seer’s quarters. There’s a problem, and he would like you to come. Immediately.”

“Sure. Give us half an hour.” Fuck a doodle. “Uh, can you holler at Betty and tell her we’ll be up there as soon as we can?”

It was going to do no one any good if Kami just walked up there and puked on Cain. Cain was a nice guy and incredibly thoughtful, but that might be a bridge too far.

Funny, and he would laugh his ass off with Boone and Durango later, but yeah. Not so good. “How you doing, man?”

“Better. Better, I think I might live.” Kami took the orange drink and gulped it down. Then he took the other one and just sipped it.

“So Cain needs to see us both, he says. There’s some sort of a problem.”

Kami glanced up, blinked. “What kind of a problem?”

“Don’t know, all I know is that he requested us. We got to go.”

“Maybe we’re going to be sent on a mission.”

Unlikely, but who knew? “I don’t know, honey. Let’s go see. Get your shoes on. Wash your mouth out.” God knows nobody wanted puke breath on him.

Stop it. Kami sounded less amused than he obviously was.

Sorry, but you got to admit, it’s weird. In fact, he was running scenarios on why Kami was sick, and not a lot made sense. They’d shared a couple of plates at breakfast. He wasn’t sick. Kami didn’t have weird psychological problems with sparring, he didn’t think, so that ruled that?—

A thought occurred to him, and he stared at Kami, his nose working to see if Kami’s scent was different.

It was, just a bit. There was a deeper, more earthy edge to it.

Oh, shit. Could Kami be pregnant? Had he just tossed his pregnant hailee all over the training room?

“What’s wrong? Why are you staring at me like that? Why are you sniffing me? Stop it.” Kami frowned at him, scowled actually.

“What do you think I’m doing?” Reno asked.

“We’re not thinking anything. We’re going to meet with the seer so he can think things for us because that’s what he does, obviously. Let’s go.”

Oh man, he had totally just thrown his pregnant hailee all over the damn training salle.

That had been him.

What if something happened? What if he had jostled the new dragon baby?

He was going to have to talk to the midwife, Rowan, but then he might get in trouble. Should he talk to Boone? Durango couldn’t keep a secret to save his life. He adored the man, but secrets were not his big thing.

And he couldn’t tell Triton because Triton would tell Talon, who would tell Kami, who might just slit his throat in the middle of the night out of sheer rage.

This was a topic for concern.

Yeah, it was totally going to have to be Boone.

“You’re concerning me.” Kami started putting his shoes on.

“Just stuff on my mind. I hate having a sick hailee. We have to go up to Cain’s.”

Boone, I have got to talk to you.

Why? What’s up?

What do you know about how hard you can throw a pregnant hailee before you hurt something.

There was a moment of utter silence. Sorry, what?

I think Kami is pregnant, and we just had a sparring match, and I may have just slammed him into the ground and made him throw up.

Oh. Well, that’s new. Boone didn’t sound amused. I don’t know. I can’t imagine any point at which I would throw my hailee on the ground. They’re kind of delicate.

Oh, please. I have seen Lake wrangle six toddlers in the swimming pool and dress down a server who couldn’t remember that they all needed apple juice at the same time. That man is not delicate. That man has carried two giant babies while taking care of other babies during it. Not delicate. You don’t think I hurt him, do you?

No, man, you would know. People have wild monkey sex when they’re pregnant. Like wild. Trust me on this. Lots.

Oh, well. Okay, you’ve got a point there. Sex was absolutely more jostly than a couple of knocks on a padded floor. Hell, they’d had sex yesterday, which had been harder than that. Thanks, I’m heading to Cain’s.

Are you going out on a mission?

Nope, I don’t think so. Not if Kami was pregnant, they weren’t. He was not missioning with a pregnant Kami.

“What are you doing?” Kami asked him. “Who are you talking to? Where are you?”

“Boone needed something. Let’s go.” He led the way to Cain’s, giving Boone a quick goodbye. He needed to focus on Kami, so he put his hand on the small of Kami’s back, giving him some warmth, letting his love flow through their bond.

Kami gave him a quick, uncertain grin.

They made it to the hall that led to Cain’s door, and Kami dug in his heels. “Do you think he’s kicking me out?”

“Baby, why would he do that?” Reno wrapped his arm around his mate. “Besides that, let me assure you I wouldn’t let it happen. And neither would anybody else. I think Cain actually likes you.”

Honestly, Cain was basically a nice guy. A seer, so he was a little bossy, but basically nice. And he always had good snacks.

Betty was waiting there in the foyer, nodding at both of them. “Oh, good deal. He’s kind of frantic, so just go right in.”

“Frantic?” Kami hurried up, rather than slowed down, and Reno took that as a good sign.

They hit the door together, sort of like a freight train, finding a pair of dragons there, Cain kneeling down beside them.

“What’s going on?”

“We can’t find her stone. I can’t… I can’t help her and we’re going to lose her.” Cain was pale and shaken, obviously stressed.

One of the warriors Reno knew from training—Kayla, maybe, he couldn’t remember her name—stared up at him with her eyes glowing bright red. “Please. I can’t lose her, not now. I just found her.”

Reno understood this on a deep level. “What can we do?”

He was willing to throw stones at the little omega, just like Talon had done for them. She was so pale she was almost transparent, and he didn’t want her dying on his damn watch.

“Okay.” And Cain was looking at Kami. “Can you help me? Can you try?”

There wasn’t even a hesitation when Kami nodded. “Absolutely. What was your stone before?”

“What does it matter?” Kayla cried.

“Don’t argue with me. What the fuck was your stone before?”

“Aquamarine. It was an aquamarine,” the omega croaked out, the light in her blue eyes visibly fading.

“Cool, cool, cool. We got this. Reno, I need you. Come with me.” Kami grabbed his hand, and off Reno went into that huge cavern of stones.

“Hailee? What am I supposed to do?”

“Well, we’re going to find this chick a stone.”

“Cool, how?”

“Aquamarine, so it’s another beryl. I’m into beryls. That’s what my stuff is so… I’m going to start calling to it, and then if you see something glow or hum or… I don’t know. I wasn’t really with it when I was trying for mine, but it worked so, and I can’t—” Kami stopped and took a deep breath. “We’re going to help this woman. You and me, we’re going to fix this, understood?”

He saluted. “You start singing, baby, I will make this happen.”

“Yeah.” Kami nodded, then closed his eyes and started humming. It wasn’t really a sound that came from his lungs or his lips, though. It seemed to come from deeper, as if his body was vibrating and causing this hum.

For a second, Reno worried that that vibration might disturb the baby should Kami be pregnant, but he wasn’t going to start messing with things now.

If Kami was pregnant, he was just pregnant. And if he wasn’t supposed to be doing this, he wouldn’t be doing it.

This type of thing, this came from way above even Cain’s pay grade.

Kami kept humming, and they moved deeper and deeper into the cave, back past even where all the stones seemed to be.

“Should we stop? Shouldn’t we go back?”

Kami didn’t answer him, but that humming got louder, so Reno went with it.

What else was he supposed to do?

He followed Kami, eyes peeled in the dark for anything that seemed to be out of the ordinary.

“Hurry!” Cain called. “Please.”

Kami growled, and he winced. How could he tell the seer to shut up and let Kami work?

Then he saw it. Something started to glow gold. He saw it, but he could hardly believe it. “I need some tools! Cain! A shovel or a pick!”

Kami’s song intensified, and the stone glowed brighter, so bright he had to shield his eyes. He heard heavy footsteps running, and then Boone and Durango were there carrying tools.

“Holy shit,” Boone said. “I don’t want to break it.”

“Give me the pick.” Through Kami, the stone was telling Reno what to do. He went in from the top, swinging the pick hard, and damn if the golden beryl didn’t pop right out, a chunk of granite still encasing it.

“Kami! Come with me. Sing it to her.” The stone would have to be cut down, but he and Boone heaved it up and ran back to Cain’s. The omega needed to be able to touch it.

They slid to a stop in front of the omega and Kayla, and they placed it carefully on the floor. Instinctively, Reno knew Kami could make it easier on her to bond with it, to find her space with it.

Kami’s song never wavered. If anything, it got louder, and Reno grabbed the omega’s hands and put it on the stone. She had to get with the program, but she was so weak…

She gasped, her eyes going wide and the blue coming back into them, taking over the grayish-white film that had covered them. “Oh!”

That’s it. Keep her on it , Kami told him, his whole body vibrating with the hum.

Reno’s teeth were going to rattle right out of his head. “You got it, hailee.”

“Got what?” Cain asked.

“Kami says not to let her let go of the rock.” So Reno knelt by Kayla. “Get in there and drape yourself over her and the rock. Add your strength.”

“I will.” Kayla put on her alpha face and covered her hailee, groaning when the stone started to glow and fade in a kind of pulsing pattern.

He looked at Kami, who was still singing to the stone, and it felt to Reno like his mate was fine-tuning the damn thing. Like he was making it better respond to the omega. It was amazing to see, like a gem cutter honing his craft and bringing out the beauty in a diamond.

It’s a golden beryl. Like aquamarine, but bright gold yellow…

It’s perfect for her, baby.

I know. Kami’s hair was all but floating around his head like he was touching one of those energy balls. The magic in the room was so powerful that everyone looked a little awed by it. It wasn’t all Kami now, because the omega was gaining strength, but it was nuts.

Totally.

Reno went to Kami, doing as he said. He grabbed Kami’s hand, adding his strength to the proceedings.

Thank you. Kami’s eyes glowed as he smiled at Reno, and Reno nodded, trying to just get them through this.

The omega slumped over the stone, and Kayla cried out, but it was soon pretty damn apparent that it was a good sound.

“She’s asleep. Like really asleep. Oh, thank you.” She was just bawling, tears streaming down her face.

Kami slumped against him, leaning on his shoulder.

“Do you need us anymore right now, Cain?” He could tell Kami’s energy was blown. In fact, he lifted his hailee into his arms, wanting to get him a bath and bed.

“I don’t think so. I’ll call you if something new should crop up. For now, I need to get them to the healers.”

“We’re gonna rest for a bit.”

“I’ll cover for you, dude,” Boone put in.

“Thanks, bud.” He took Kami with him, and Talon met them in the hall outside their apartment.

“Kami, are you well?”

Kami raised his head, giving Talon a soft, worn out chuckle. “I am. I’m just a little tired.”

“But at least you’re not puking,” Reno murmured.

“Puking?” Talon demanded. “What happened?”

“I was just a little sick during training this morning,” Kami said. “That’s all.”

“You are never sick.”

“Talon, man, I love you, but I need to take Kami to get him a shower and a bed. We’re covered in rock dust from digging a stone out of a cave.”

Talon stopped and stared at him. “You will explain?”

“Let’s have pancakes tomorrow morning. Huh?”

“I will come over at eight.” Talon marched off, and Kami laughed.

“Take me in and lock the door.” Kami patted his cheek.

“Yes, hailee.” He did exactly that, then hauled Kami into the big shower in the bathroom and got the water going, steam pouring out of the space in no time. He stripped Kami out of his clothes, then got his gone, and he took them into the shower.

“Ohhhhh.” Kami moaned, leaning into him and letting the water beat down on him. “That’s good.”

“You? Are fucking amazing, baby,” Reno said.

“I’m trying. I couldn’t let her die, but none of those stones were hers. I could hear it, though. It was calling to me.”

“And you saved her.”

Kami glanced up at him, serious as a heart attack. “No. We did. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Glad I was there with you, so that you wouldn’t have to be there alone.” He couldn’t imagine Kami having to go through that by himself—not because it had been horrifying or anything, but because of the sheer amount of energy it had taken out of the dragon.

“I’ve never done anything like that before, but she’s going to be okay, right?”

“You know it. She is, because of you.”

Kami shook his head and said, “No. Because of us.”

Reno wasn’t sure about that, but he was certain it didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to make Kami go it alone, one way or the other.