Chapter Twelve
Blaze
I'm sorry. Blaze heard those words as clearly as if he'd spoken them himself. He searched for Vale in the streets. They'd been going from house to house, making sure everyone was okay when the words had drifted over Blaze filling him with a terrifying wrongness. "Vale?" he hollered for his King.
At the same time, Vale popped out of the door one house over, the panic in his gaze matching Blaze's as he hollered, "Blaze?"
For a fraction of a second, they simply stared at each other. Something was wrong, but if both of them were fine, then something must have happened to Landon in the castle.
Having come to the same conclusion, Vale was on Blaze's heels as the run. Vale made an impatient noise and shifted, soaring into the air toward the castle while Blaze did the same. They didn't give concern to the things they were knocking over as they flew inside the dome.
Then, beneath them, there was one more shuddering shake. This time, it felt less like an earthquake and more like they were on the back of a dog shaking off excess water. It felt like the shaking the dungeons let off directly after a…purge.
"He wouldn't," Blaze told Vale.
"He wouldn't?" Vale replied, and he was right. Landon had been so sure, and they had set him aside. Now… "I yelled at him, Blaze. I yelled at our mate."
Blaze took a sharp turn, aiming for the dome and then stopped short. Would it regrow fast enough? How depleted were the plant's abilities after so long on rations?
"The creek," Vale suggested, his worries obviously mirrored Blaze's.
They banked roughly to the left, slipping down the main street and making a mess of the buildings that were packed in so tightly together. When they got to the banks of the creek, Blaze shifted in the air, landing in the water like an Olympic diver into a pool. He wouldn't fit in the creek in his dragon form, but this way was definitely slower, and Blaze couldn't get the words out his head long enough to calm down and think. His heart beat so quickly, it would wear out. There was no way a heart could go on in this state. And what if you don't find Landon? The insidious thought worked its way inside his body, choking his muscles and making it harder to move. If they lost Landon…Blaze and Vale might as well die with him. They didn't work without him. This time, Blaze wouldn't be strong enough to leave to the states. He'd stay, Vale would forever blame himself for losing his temper and they would die.
"Stop, Blaze. We don't know anything. Your fear is like a blanket, choking me," Vale told him. "I will be given the chance to apologize." They'd reached the edge of the creek and ducked down, slipping through the hole in the dome that was always there for the creek to flow through.
The moment Blaze slipped through, he shifted. He pushed through the water, searching the darkness, but the dungeon was at the bottom and they were far from that point. Frustration made him weaker and he let out a great burst of fire in his anger.
"There!" Vale shouted excitedly, spearing through the water at something Blaze couldn't see. "Breathe your fire again!"
Blaze did as he was told, and Vale swam further. In the water, breathing fire obstructed Blaze's sight, but it illuminated the water for Vale. Blaze doubted that our mate was what he was seeing but—
Looking more like a sea monster than his mate, Vale emerged from the eerie darkness, swimming through the water like a racehorse with a frail, limp body in his mouth. "I can't feel his heartbeat," Vale said and this time it was his frenzy that tried suffocating Blaze.
"If he was dead, he'd be a dragon," Blaze told him, trying to comfort them both. Except, he'd heard word as he was leaving the states of some new substance that killed shifters but left them human. No. Landon had never visited the states and last Blaze had heard through the security board forums, those people had been caught. No. Landon was knocked out. He just needed…air. At that point, air was becoming something they all needed.
He turned toward where they had come and even with his enhanced sight, Blaze couldn't make out the man-sized hole they'd slipped through to get here. "Follow my flame and hang on to him!" Blaze pushed toward the surface, a farther distance, but at this point, their only hope. He breathed out fire, something the depleted his own oxygen levels, but without it, Vale might not be able to see his way. He definitely wouldn't be able to breathe his own fire, not with their mate in his mouth.
Blaze pushed through the water, but he was losing strength. Who knew how Landon had already been down here? The murky light of the sun above grew hazy as his motions slowed. He was running out of strength. Behind him, Vale was slowing just as much. Your mates are going to die down here. Your child! Blaze held in his roar, it would only use precious oxygen. He turned back to Vale, enveloping them both in the safety of his wings as he swam the three of them up. With the last ounce of energy, he possessed, Blaze broke through the surface, pushing his two mates onto the rocky shore before flopping back on his back and gulping for air.
Each breath tasted like the purest water but felt like razors in his throat. He let his head fall to the side, bobbing on the surface of the ocean like he was, he spotted Vale hunched over their mate. He had something small in his hand and put the item up to Landon's lips. He tipped the contents into Landon's mouth, his lips moving the entire time like he was praying. Blaze knew he was asking for forgiveness. Begging for it.
The next moment, Landon coughed and sputtered, turning to his side he threw up gallons of ocean water.
Relief forced him to swim at the surface of the ocean, his noodle arms barely helping him reach the shore where Vale stopped showering Landon with kisses long enough to help pull him up. "You're alive," Blaze whispered, kissing his forehead. "The baby?" He cocked his head to the side and pressed that ear against Landon's tummy. He heard a muffled heartbeat, quiet but strong. "You're both alive."
"And in trouble," Vale said sternly. "You promised, Landon."
Blaze frowned, but he couldn't say he didn't agree. "If you were just going to purge her, why not ask us to do it?"
"I wasn't," Landon croaked. "It was the Eternal Beauty like I said. She was going to get it into the main plant system somehow, it was going to kill you all."
Blaze and Vale looked at each other, stunned. So, the four of them weren't the only ones who had brushed close to death today.
"She gave me a choice, die down there with her or die in the dome with you all. She said she would wait for me to get up there—as a kindness. That lady…she's evil." He shuddered as if shaking off the memory of her. "I knew how to start the purge and thought at least that way, there was a chance I would be saved." He paused then to settle a soft hand on Vale's right cheek and Blaze's left. "Thank you, and I'm sorry."
"That's what we heard. Your apology. But what happened to Avia?"
Landon looked out at the ocean, his eyes were glassy as if they weren't seeing the waves at the surface but the dangers that lurked beneath. "Something got her. She was there with me, just as terrified. Oh yeah, she stabbed me!" He leaned up to look at his back but thanks to dragon healing, the wound there was already an old scab. That didn't make Blaze any happier. "When the water came in it was dark and hectic, but she was there one minute, and the next, she was just a cloud of blood."
Blaze would have preferred having some physical proof, but that fact was, they were the only land around for miles. If she wasn't topside with them, then she was dead. "So, it is done then? She can't kill any more roses." He didn't add that was because there wasn't any left.
"No, I don't think she can. Not in the same way. I thin, the toxins were building in her system but since her bodily systems were magically slowed, she simply exhaled the toxins into the air. That would explain why it took a few days for the spores to take effect. Though I don't know why they only affected roses…Oh, oof!" Landon bent over at his middle. "I don't think heis very happy," he said, cupping his stomach.
"Or you are just hungry and exhausted," Vale replied. "You need a warm meal, my arms and bed first. Later, we can talk about everything you learned."
***
When he was able, Blaze had taken flight and found the tunnel, directing Vale and Landon to the right spot. They'd slipped back down where the people were panicking. They'd felt the shake and had known it for what it was, a purge. Vale soothed their fears as they walked, never stopping to the castle where they took Landon upstairs but left the castle doors open so that people could congregate and be comforted by one another. At this point, there was no immediate danger, except for how hard Landon had begun to shake during the walk up. They fed him warm broth and then put him in a warm bath full of bubbles.
Landon sat in the bath with his back against Vale's warm body and his feet propped up on Blaze's lap. Blaze used some of the soap to massage Landon's feet which seemed to do a good job lessening his shakes. After a few moments, he was asleep and snoring softly while still in the tub being held and protected by his two mates. Whenever he took a large breath, his tummy would stick out from the top of the water, Blaze liked to imagine it was their son waving hello. Their son. He didn't know how Landon knew he just knew how he had almost lost them both today.
He spoke quietly so he didn't wake Landon. "I know you have a few vials of elixir. I saw you give one to Landon to wake him up." He rose his voice slightly when Vale opened his mouth to argue. "And I am telling you that I am glad for it. I don't want to know how many more you have or where they are. I want you to keep them for whenever Landon or our child is in need. Please. Whatever happens, knowing they are there will calm my mind." He knew he sounded like the hugest hypocrite, but he didn't care. For once, he understood Vale's desire to hoard the roses.
Vale just nodded. Anything he said at that point would either sound like a gloat or a taunt.
A great roar of laughter reached the room from their people down in the entrance. "It sounds like they are coming to terms with our new reality."
Vale paused in the act of aimlessly kissing the top of Landon's head. "It's like we are a new tribe. Square one, as they say. Big changes are going to have to come our way. We need to rebuild, but not below, topside. We need guards to help protect us, train doctors for when we fall ill…"
He stopped but somehow, Blaze had known his next words were going to be about all the cemeteries they would need now. "People will leave, especially when topside doesn't become the paradise that The Garden once was."
Vale sighed. "If they leave, they leave. People have left before."
For once, Blaze didn't think that was a dig towards him. He set Landon's feet in the soapy water and stretched forward to lay a palm flat on his stomach. Vale's hand joined his and for a few seconds they just sat and held their child and their mate. "We'll figure it out."
"Together."
***
Two months later…
"King, you have a meeting with the builders and the gardeners for most of your morning, they still cannot agree on where the gardens should go. The builders believe less space should be dedicated to the new growth since it will happen so slowly."
Vale set down his coffee cup and rubbed the back of his neck. He was tired, and Blaze wished there was something he could do to lessen his load. But, Juniper hadn't read off his schedule yet. "The growth doesn't happen slowly, it will just be natural."
Juniper leveled a steady gaze at him from over her wide-rimmed black glasses. With a steady dose of elixir keeping her sight perfect, she hadn't needed them. But now, her nearsightedness had returned. They all tried telling her she looked cute in them, but it was best just not to mention them in front of her. "Be that as it may, King Vale, they'll need you to give the final say. After, I have gathered the recruits who are excelling in guard training for you to interview. You'll need to appoint a head guard.
Blaze opened his mouth.
"One who isn't your adviser," she said first and then consulted her schedule. "That should bring you to the afternoon where you all have thirty minutes scheduled with each other. Then, directly after, you have a call with the outside contractors we contacted to set down the roads topside. Apparently, when those go down, they remain, unmovable and unchanging." She lifted the corner of her upper lip in a sneer. The thought clearly didn't sit well with her.
"This is exactly why I suggested a mandatory semester in the states for all emerald dragons in school right now," Blaze said with a half-smile. "Most of this is just normal, everyday life stuff. In the states, the streets don't move. Sometimes, they don't even get paved."
"Mhmm," Juniper replied looking at her list again. "You can try to fit in organizing a semester abroad in between weapons training and your defense strategy meeting but that will mean missing your lunch hour." She leveled an unflinching gaze onto Vale "You don't have a lunch hour." Finally, she turned to Landon. He was in the middle of shoving an indecently large doughnut into his mouth. His pregnant belly strained against his shirt. Getting pregnancy clothes for Landon had sort of fallen to the backburner. Every time Blaze or Vale suggested it, Landon came up with some excuse about how there had to be something more pressing for them to do. Blaze didn't mind. Sometimes, if Landon's top was tight enough, Blaze could see his little belly button poking through. He wasn't sure why the sight delighted him so much, but it did. "Landon, today you need to be your adorable self," she said with an indulgent smile and playful flick on his nose.
Landon groaned. "I have to help. These two will be in meetings all day!"
"You could arrange the nursery," Vale suggested. "Of course, I mean, you could bring servants with you to do the actual moving while you direct them. But don't touch the crib!" he said, more forcefully than he'd meant to be. When he spoke again, he was calmer. "I'm still going to try to put the new one together," he grumbled.
Both Blaze and Landon smiled at him. In an effort to show good behavior and a readiness to accept their new way of life, Vale had opted out of using the royal crib, the same one that he and his brother were raised in. It was a beautiful creation of function and form. Grown carefully by their gardeners, the crib featured beautiful swirling wood, grown to exact specifications with no seams, nails or wood glue. It was an ashy color and soft to the touch and the most beautiful piece of furniture Blaze had ever seen. The new crib was purchased from a company in the states. It came in a large, hard to maneuver rectangle box with the pieces individually labeled and packaged. Vale had been convinced he would get it put together straight away, that had been two weeks ago.
"Maybe I could help in the kitchens? Or, in guard training? I was a guard after all."
Blaze shot Vale a worried look that he hoped Landon couldn't see.
"Oh, I almost forgot, you did get a letter, two actually. One is from Flynn, the Diamond King's mate the other is from Miko, the Golden King's mate. They expressed concern in your pregnancy and interest in meeting on a casual basis."
"Are you sure they didn't say anything else in the private letters meant for Landon?" Blaze asked.
Juniper just shook her head. "Nope, that was it. But you can read them," she said handing them to Landon.
"How generous," Vale commented which just made Blaze smile.
For some reason that made Juniper make a noise of disgust. "I can't get over you two, all lovey-dovey. Are you sure you don't have any of Avia's witch blood running through your veins, Landon? Because you are magical."
Juniper had only experienced the tail end of their relationship when Vale and Blaze had been at their worst. Still, she wasn't wrong.
"I'm nothing like her," Landon replied with unusual seriousness. He still had nightmares and woke up with a scream every couple of nights. Some nights it was the dark ocean that scared him, unknown depths, unknown beasts that lived in those depths. But usually, it was the Golden Grandmother who tortured him. Even in death.
"Juniper, cancel everything I have for tomorrow," Blaze told her. "And write back to the mates, tell them that Landon would very much like an afternoon to get to know them." Landon and Vale just watched him, both silent. Vale was likely categorizing his schedule, deciding what was most important and would, therefore, need to take a little longer. Landon however, was so quiet he seemed almost despondent. Both Vale and Blaze had noticed the gradual change. Landon should have been growing happier as his due date approached. Instead, he was growing quieter. He'd sit for long moments staring into the distance, looking at something Blaze and Vale couldn't see.
***
Blaze helped Landon off the ferry and onto the docks of Chryseum Island. The ride over from Diamond Island had been smooth. With blue skies overhead and calm seas, they pulled up to the docks just as the sun shone high in the sky and a rainbow arched over the furthest corner, despite Blaze seeing no hint of rain. He looked up at the glittering gates and golden castle in the distance and wondered if the Golden King didn't simply hire someone to produce a constant rainbow for him.
He spotted King Damari standing behind a thin man with shockingly blue hair. He was older than the last time Blaze saw him, but his face didn't look quite so stern. Blaze figured that's what finding a mate did to a man, it allowed him to brush off the armor he'd been forced to wear. Still, King Damari didn't seem effervescently excited to see them.
His mate though? A different story. With a baby propped on one hip, Miko bounded toward them, a wide smile on his face. "Hi! You must be Landon and you must be Blaze," he said, guessing them correctly. He had an accent that placed him more on the west coast of the states than the east. He wore black jeans that wore torn in several places, silver studded Converse shoes and a tight bright yellow t-shirt with a cartoon sun on the front with a thought bubble that read, Scorching hot hugs. "Are you a hugger?" he asked half a foot away from Landon with his one arm raised. He wore a large collection of rubber bracelets on his wrist organized by color in a rainbow pattern. "I promise they are normal temperature," he said before giggling.
Despite being on edge on another dragon's island with his pregnant mate, Blaze felt his lips turn up. It was impossible not to smile around this guy. The fact that he'd been paired up with the grouch standing behind him made him even more intriguing.
"This is Mikhail, careful he's teething, and it makes him grumpy."
The baby at Miko's hip sat with near-perfect posture, one hand grabbed hold of his dad's shirt while the other waved around in the air. He was mostly bald with a tuft of jet-black hair in front. Suddenly, he burped, and the tiniest little fireball came shooting out of his mouth. More smoke than fire, Miko pulled his baby away, shushing him. "I'm sorry. Did he get you? He's ruined most of my wardrobe that way."
Landon smiled and brushed away Miko's concern. "Don't worry, I'm diamond plated."
He wasn't actually, and another dragon would have gotten the joke. Instead, Miko's eyes got wide. "Really?"
Landon laughed quietly, and Blaze congratulated himself on his plan. This would be good for Landon, it would get him out of the funk he was in.
"I forgot you were a dragon. I mean, your pretty eyes gave you away but still, there are eyes that color where I am from. It's weird how you can seem so normal—" Miko shut his mouth so quickly his lips made a popping noise. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean…" He looked back at King Damari and the affection in the King's face was a lot like how Vale looked at Landon.
Blaze didn't envy Vale being King or Damari. The life they were forced to live was a strict one. Still, looking back at the glittering grounds, it had to have its benefits.
"That probably won't be my first time sticking my foot in it. Do you know that phrase? I'm never sure what things have carried into dragon culture and what hasn't."
Landon squeezed Blaze's hand before letting go and approaching Miko. He gave Miko and his baby a fast, awkward hug over his pregnant belly. "I do know that phrase, but you needn't worry because Blaze, one of my mates, spent many years in the states so he can explain it to me if I don't understand. I grew up on Diamond Island though where we have televisions and even cable. Also, thank you for the invite and yes, I am a hugger."
Miko's face lit up and Blaze walked around them, bowing respectfully to King Damari. "My King sends his thanks for allowing this meeting and his regret that he couldn't also accompany us."
Damari replied to his bow with a short nod. "I have heard rumors. Could they be true?"
Blaze chose his words carefully. "We are in a time of change." He gestured to where Landon and Miko were now talking animatedly. "Adjustments are being made."
While he neither confirmed nor denied the King's question, Damari nodded anyway, knowing he would get no more on the matter. What they were doing right now, allowing their mates to meet, to chat, it was already unheard of. Since the end of the Dragon Wars, contact between the tribes was non-existent at worst, empty pleasantries at best. "How have you found mated life?" Damari asked instead.
"Like nothing I could have imagined," Blaze replied truthfully, unable to tear his gaze off his mate. He wished Vale was there with them, if only so that he could see how stunning their mate looked, fully pregnant, the beautiful blue sky in the distance. His eyes shone brightly, and color had returned to his cheeks.
A shadow passed over them and it was years of bad blood that had Blaze nearing his mate, preparing to fly away with him at the first sign of danger. Oddly, Damari looked to be doing the same thing as he grabbed Miko's elbow and pulled him close. The four of them looked up as a rope fell from a beast just now emerging from the cloud line. Then, a shape attached to the rope and came hurtling toward them. A man landed surely on his feet on the dock, right before a little girl landed next to him. He waved at the dragon flying above them before turning to the group. On his front, the man wore a wrap, it wiggled cooed. Blaze looked from the height they'd just fallen down to the baby again and his gut clenched. Landon better not get any ideas.
"Sorry about the drama," the man said. "We were running late and Sorsha said she wasn't allowed to land on the island. This was the next best thing."
"And a loophole I hadn't thought of," Damari said in a way that showed he wasn't exactly pleased with discovering this weakness. Though, a dragon that meant harm wouldn't have made their first landing in his or her human form.
"I'm Flynn," the man said to the group. "That's Sorsha." He pointed up with a wave.
Beside him, Landon waved at his old Guardian Princess.
"This is Shea," Flynn said, throwing a casual thumb in the little girl's direction.
The little girl made an impatient noise.
"Apologies," Flynn told her. "This is Princess Shelandria of the Diamond Dragons. And this is Prince Emeral."
"A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance," Shea said to the group with a deep, perfectly poised curtsy.
"Pleasure to meet my…" Miko sputtered. "You can't be older than seven."
"Six."
Miko laughed, an utterly delighted sound. "Then the pleasure, little princess, is all mine. I cannot believe I'm meeting a princess. Dam said they were real and of course there are princesses in the human world but a dragon princess that is exciting."
The little girl lifted her chin proudly. "It is a title I wear with honor."
Blaze pulled Landon away from the group a few feet. "Are you feeling okay? Your skin looks nice."
"That's an odd compliment and yes. I wasn't sure why we were doing this until now. It feels nice. A little guilty, but nice."
Blaze pulled Landon closer and murmured, "Why would you feel guilty?"
Landon didn't pull away but he stiffened. "Back in The Garden…I mean, back at home, everything is changing. I know you said it isn't my fault, but it feels that way. I helped bring Avia there, I was the reason Vale let her stay. It was what she wanted the entire time and I helped her make it happen."
Blaze settled his hands on Landon's shoulders. "Until you stopped her. You, Landon." He noticed Damari's attention on him though he thought the King was trying to be secretive about it. Blaze kissed Landon softly on the lips and when he pulled back he whispered in his ear, "You did what no one else on this island or any other could do. We'll rebuild, discover a new way of life with doctors and guards and the pitter patter of tiny feet." He rubbed Landon's tummy. "After, we'll work on making more feet to pitter-patter."
Landon swiped his hand away affectionately. "I am not a broodmare!"
"What a thing to overhear!" Miko said bouncing over to them. "I totally understand though. I can't keep my guy off me. And you have two! I don't know whether to be jealous or sympathetic."
"How about you invite our guests to tea? You set the table so beautifully," Damari suggested.
Blaze decided then that he liked the Golden King's mate. He humanized the staunch dragon. Maybe that was what mates were good for, keeping dragons that much more human.
"Oh yes!" Miko straightened as Mikhail let out another firebomb. "This way!"
Their group followed behind Miko and Damari, Flynn and Shea were in front and Blaze kept Landon in the back next to him.
"This place is certainly shinier than I remember," Blaze told his mate.
"It's…so…gold."
Blaze could only agree. Each dragon tribe had a jewel or precious metal affinity but none of them played it quite so on the nose as Damari seemed to be doing. They walked down a stone street with gold flecks through two golden gates up to a castle that looked literally plated with gold. "Do you have…humans staying here?" Blaze asked.
"Other than me?" Miko replied. "When they opened their gates here and announced their presence to the world, a thriving tourism industry began. We've slowed down the number of visitors we get, but at any time there could be a human here sightseeing. That isn't so odd, is it? I thought the diamond dragons employed humans."
"Not so many," Flynn replied. "Some of us weren't so trustworthy," he said to Shea with a wink.
They made it to a small courtyard surrounded by ivy-covered walls. It was nice to be around a little green again. Blaze let Landon choose where he wanted to sit and then plopped down next to him. Three servants came out immediately and placed before them a towering tray full of pastries and other flaky delicacies as well as two pots of tea. The cups and other dishes had already been set out in an elegant arrangement.
"Please, help yourself to the finger food. I asked the kitchen to prepare two types of tea, one is a black tea with hints of saffron and the other is a white tea made from the leaves of the rambutan, a common golden dragon delicacy."
"Oh! Rambutan tea!" Princess Shelandria piped up. "I've read about this in a History of Dragons. It is rumored that the Golden Grandmother would drink nothing else while pregnant—" Shea stopped speaking the moment the mood at the table changed. She was an insightful little girl to have picked up on the tense atmosphere. Every person at that table had been harmed or attempted to be harmed by Avia. "I'm sorry," she said quickly, folding her hands on her lap before letting her head drop.
"You're lucky you like to study," Landon told her gently. "I always had such a hard time of it in school."
Shea lifted her head a fraction. "I don't begin actual schooling for another year, Sorsha says this is my prep work so that school will be a breeze. I imagine it will be anyway since I've already memorized the first few books they teach from."
"You'll become a force to be reckoned with," Landon told her, earning an appreciative smile from Flynn and a thankful one from Damari.
"Now that that cat is out of the bag," he paused and looked to Miko as if making sure he'd spoken the human colloquialism correctly. "I'd like to apologize for my part in both of your lives, Flynn and Landon, you have my deepest remorse. I should have dealt with my grandmother as a threat and not as a regrettable outcome."
After that, the conversation turned to more light-hearted topics. Landon asked many questions about child rearing, a few about the birth process and more about caring for the child after it was born. At some point, Miko handed him Mikhail who he bounced on his knee while keeping his flaming, and also drooling mouth pointed away from everyone.
"He's lovely," Landon said, speaking of Mikhail. "You know, I had a dream once where I thought I was dreaming my son. He looked just like me. Mikhail looks like both of you I think. He has King Damari's hair and Miko's nose."
"I didn't know you dreamed of our son," Blaze told him.
"It was in the last dream, the one where I figured out that Avia was operating even while asleep." He looked up at Damari. "I didn't know she could navigate dreams."
A little of the color left Damari's face. "She can't. That isn't a golden dragon skill."
Silence fell on the table.
Shea cleared her throat delicately. "Onyx dragons are rumored to have power over their nightmares."
Ten words spoken from the mouth of a six-year-old were enough to make Blaze's stomach drop. "If she can't manipulate dreams on her own, then this is proof that she has been conspiring with the onyx dragons. At the least, it explains why we never heard back from the onyx messenger." Blaze wracked his brain trying to figure out what else had happened that day. The messenger hadn't been alone, he'd been claiming to be the King. They'd found out he was Luca, the King's brother. But for a moment, Vale and Blaze hadn't known he wasn't alone. Was that enough time for them to stash something? Perhaps something that would help them gain entry into The Garden? Blaze got to his feet. "We need to go," he told the table, Landon was already on his feet.
"Do you suspect something has happened?" King Damari asked.
Blaze remembered the utter despair he'd felt when he'd heard Landon's dying words, I'm sorry. He didn't feel quite that way now, but there was a ball of anxiety in his gut that grew pricklier by the moment.
"Come, Landon. If there is—"
"Screw whatever you were about to say." He hunched back toward the table. "Sorry, Shea." She waved off his worry. "You aren't leaving me if my mate is in danger."
Blaze didn't have time to argue and as good a first step as this tea had been, he wasn't ready to speak more on the subject in front of them. "At least ride on my back," he conceded.
With fast goodbyes, Blaze shifted while Landon crawled, straddling the space just behind his neck. They set to the sky and flew. It didn't even take long for Blaze to spot the smoke.