It was late afternoon by the time they made it back. Braeden was stretched out in the sun on the beach near the house, his hair still damp.

Timothy had already shifted back, but he couldn’t resist nudging the ocean just a little.

From out of nowhere, a large wave came rolling towards the beach, breaking just where Braeden had napped in the sun. The fire dragon woke sputtering, scrambling further up the beach to dry land.

Timothy snickered while Braeden gave him an insulted look, looking like a bedraggled cat.

A second later, Braeden pounced—and all of a sudden, Timothy found himself on his back in the wet sand, a heartbeat before another wave came crashing over them both.

When the water retreated, Braeden was grinning at him, his eyes alight with the gleam of fire. There was a large string of green seaweed wrapped all around his neck.

“A bold fashion statement.” Braeden gave him a smirk, as if he was completely unaware of the green necklace he was currently wearing. “I can’t believe your mate lets you go out like this.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Timothy began, raising a hand to rake it through his hair.

Then he stopped. There was something cold and weirdly slimy on his head.

A moment later, he realized that Liana had bent over with laughter.

She was giggling helplessly as she stared at him. “Oh, please don’t move! Let me get my phone. I need a picture—don’t touch it!”

“No, thank you,” Timothy said with as much dignity as a man with a jellyfish right on top of his head could muster.

While Braeden and Liana watched, crying tears of laughter, he helped the confused jellyfish back into the ocean.

“Who wants coffee?” Timothy then asked, eager to change the subject.

Both Braeden and Liana kept grinning as they climbed the wooden stair up to the beach house. Every time they looked at each other, it set off a new round of laughter.

“We were thinking of a barbecue on the beach this evening,” Timothy continued, combing through his hair again just to make sure that there weren’t any stray fish or clams left.

Braeden gave him a smirk and held out his hands. The cuffs of black obsidian still encircled them.

“Take these off and you can have some dragon fire charred fish.” Braeden sighed when Timothy shook his head. “Yeah, didn’t think so. How long are we going to hang around here doing nothing?”

“You wanted to see the world,” Timothy reminded him. “Live among humans. Experience all they have to offer.”

“You call this the world?” Braeden glared at the beach. “Not much for me to experience here, is there?”

Timothy rolled his yes. “Chill. A day or two of a nice beach vacation won’t hurt you. Learn to relax a little. Anyway, tomorrow we’re probably going to see the chimera, and you’re coming along.”

“Ugh.” Braeden grimaced. “No thanks. I’d rather stay here. Maybe I can check out that coffee shop of yours and give all your friends a good view of the terrible monster you’re dragging around with you in chains—”

“Nope,” Timothy said cheerfully, “you’re coming with us. I’m not leaving you alone here for a full day. You’ll scare the neighbors, and I don’t want the werewolves to move out. The quietest neighbors I’ve ever had.”

“Except for the full moon?” Liana said with a grin.

Timothy grinned back. “You got it.”

***

Inside, the air was cool. The sensation was welcome after the long afternoon out in the ocean.

While Liana vanished to shower, Timothy started the coffee. The large grouper was waiting safely in the spare fridge in the pantry, and despite Mrs. Grimes’ worry, they had all the essentials they needed for a barbecue on the beach.

Which meant that Timothy now had some time left to deal with the more unpleasant facts of life.

Like fire dragons. And the chimera.

Timothy sighed when his phone showed a missed call from Ginny. Then he opened his emails—and yep, there it was.

Just as he’d suspected, the chimera wanted to see him and his mate. Not just him, apparently. Ginny had also been told to summon the dragon of earth and air with their mates.

I hope nothing has happened with that damn plinth of fire. We should just tear it down.

The thought of how the fourth plinth had just suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the hall of the council still made him feel grumpy. The element of fire had no right to join the council of elements.

For one thing, there hadn’t been a master of the fire for many centuries.

For another, the fire dragons who’d suddenly returned from where they’d hidden underground since the Middle Ages were hell-bent on destruction, and on conquering all of humanity, if Braeden was to be believed.

Timothy still didn’t quite believe that. From what he’d seen of fire dragons, they really weren’t smart enough to establish a dragon empire, or whatever it was they were going for.

But Timothy could believe that they wanted revenge and destruction. And they didn’t care who got harmed.

Timothy could hear that the shower was still running. Liana would be a while...

He took his phone and then wandered out along the wooden pathway that ran around the house over the water. Then he thumbed through his contacts until he found the dragon of the storm, Gregory.

Gregory answered almost immediately.

“Everything okay?” the other dragon shifter said. “Ginny called an hour ago.”

“I was out in the ocean,” Timothy said. “Everything’s fine. Fire dragons attacked early this morning, but Ginny probably gave you all the news.”

“About your mate, you mean?” He could hear the smirk in Gregory’s voice. “Congratulations! I didn’t think we’d see you settle down at last. I bet she’s one of your supermodels—or a movie star? Or maybe reality TV, knowing you... Ooh, wait.”

Gregory lowered his voice. “She’s not that famous porn starlet you told me about who presumably has been hounding you with calls—”

“Hey!” Timothy said sharply as annoyance rose up in him. “I won’t have you speculate about my mate in such a way—show some goddamn manners! What the hell is wrong with you?”

It took a moment until he realized that Gregory was laughing at the other end. “Just teasing. This time it’s not one of your outrageous tales then, hmm?”

There was something strangely knowing about the way Gregory said it.

Timothy had to bite back a sound of disgruntled annoyance. Apparently, he hadn’t been able to fool Gregory with the tales he’d made up about all of his past conquests.

“She’s real,” Timothy said, still annoyed. “And you’ll be polite when you meet her, do you understand me? She didn’t know anything about shifters, and she nearly died because of me. I won’t have you scare or insult her.”

“Sorry,” Gregory said. “I’m looking forward to meeting her.” Then he paused. “And I’m glad you found someone who brings out that protective instinct in you. It suits you... better than those old, outrageous tales.”

Now Timothy was the one who sputtered.

“Whatever,” he said after a moment, trying hard to keep his composure. It really wasn’t fair that a powerful dragon like him should feel so out of his depth—but he’d never met a woman like Liana before.

And he’d never felt for someone so intensely before. The mere thought of those fire dragons coming close to her again...

Timothy took a deep breath. “Back to business. We’re all to meet in Sky Home, I hear. Want to meet up before we get there? We can fly the rest of the way together, which means more safety for our mates. And Liana will have a chance to meet everyone, before that damn chimera can scare her out of her wits.”

Gregory was silent for a moment.

“You know what?” he then said. “That’s the first time I’ve heard you speak actual sense. Your mate must be a good influence. But yeah, let’s meet. Now that Naomi is pregnant, I hate the thought of fire dragons coming anywhere close to her. Safety in numbers.”

“Not that we need it,” Timothy said, feeling the same wave of protectiveness for Liana rise up in him. “But still, we’d be foolish to risk anything. After that thing they pulled last time...”

“I’ll call Damon,” Gregory said. “It’s not quite on the way for him, but I bet he’ll be curious about your mate as well. How does 10 a.m. sound? Do you remember that hill where you and I used to race each other as teenagers?”

“Good choice,” Timothy said. “Out of sight from any cities—and with a good view of our surroundings.”

“No fire dragon will sneak up on us there,” Gregory agreed cheerfully. “And if they do—what can fire do against the three elements combined?”

“Let’s not jinx it.”

Timothy looked out at the ocean. He hated flying away from his natural element—here, he truly felt at the height of his strength. With the ocean all around them, he’d be able to keep Liana perfectly safe from any fire dragon attack.

Still, it was true that as the master of the water, he had a duty. A duty to all shifters and all humans.

He might not like it, but he couldn’t hide with such a threat out there. He had to answer the council summons.