Chapter 21
"Colin?" Ariane whispered a few days later.
"Mmm?"
"Now that Rin is getting better, I would like to take him back to his own world."
His eyes came open with alarm. He knew he didn't need to be jealous of Rin as any sort of sexual partner, but maybe he still was jealous of the mental bond that the two of them had had for so long.
"He can't stay here," she went on. "There are no sea dragons here. He needs to be with others of his own kind. Especially now."
"Why now?"
"He is young, but he is reaching his sexual maturity. He will desire a mate. And, as you know, the lust of a sea dragon for his mate is a powerful thing."
"Oh aye," he said, kissing her neck and pinching her nipple until she squeaked and threw one leg over his thigh.
"Don't try to distract me," she laughed.
"Well, how is Rin going to feel about being separated from you? And from his new friend Prince the cat?"
"It's hard for both of us, but it's part of a Traveler's life. I originally trained with a mammoth eagle. He and I were together for over a year. But we can't keep these animals for too long or they cease to be able to survive among their own kind. "
"Ah. I didn't know that."
"In fact, when this whole thing began, I was on my way to visit Liril, my teacher. She lives in a community of sea dragons, with the male whom she has been attached to for years."
Colin hooted. "Attached to? Are you saying she is a sea dragon's mate? I thought you didn't go in for that sort of thing in your world."
"Good thing I'm in this world, then, since I'm mated to someone who's half sea dragon!"
"Yeah, but we don't, you know, do interspecies sex." He loved to tease her about this. "But of course, we could. I suspect my tentacles have great potential to give pleasure."
She chuckled, but kept trying to be serious. "I don't know exactly what Liril's relationship to her companion involves. She sees herself as a scholar who studies the sea dragons. She gets as close to them as possible to understand how they live. She draws them and writes about them in the detailed journals she's been keeping for years."
"Maybe her special companion is a shifter like me."
"Maybe. Anyway, Rin is a relative of Liril's sea dragon companion. She requested long ago that he go to live with her colony when he retired from Traveler duty. I was taking him there when we were attacked by the darkling."
"I didn't realize that. So you and he were about to be separated?"
"Yes. We were both sad about it. I was fond of Rin and he of me, so we didn't want our partnership to end."
"And now?"
"Now it's different. First I thought I had lost him, but then I found you. So it has all worked out. Funny how that happens, isn't it? When we least expect it, we find joy."
"If you take Rin to your old teacher, I'm coming too. At least you won't have to train a new sea dragon—you have me."
"Are you saying you want to go with me to my world?"
He laughed. "Aye, I guess so. Some folks have to decide whether to maintain their residence in London, Edinburgh or the Highlands. How many have to choose between two fucking separate worlds?"
"Good thing you love to wander."
"Good thing you love to Travel."
They kissed. The kiss quickly escalated. It was a long time before Colin, deeply happy and fulfilled, remembered to ask, "So why was your mentor dismissed from the Travelers?"
"She runs a sea dragon breeding program. That is, the sea dragons mate of their own accord, but she encourages certain matings. She's a bit of a matchmaker."
He laughed. "Don't tell Kate. I'll wager that's something she would love to do for shifters. She's always trying to fix up my younger sister and brother with potential mates. She should start a website or something."
"The breeding program has been going on for generations. It's not a Traveler thing, officially, but there are several retired Travelers associated with it. Anyway, Liril got into trouble when one of her experiments produced an odd result. A sea dragon was born who wasn't a sea dragon."
"Meaning what?"
"He was a regular dragon. With wings and the ability to fly. And a growing tendency to emit flames."
Colin snapped to attention. "Are you serious? A sea dragon who defied the Zrakon's curse?"
"Perhaps. But he supposedly sickened and died at a young age, so it was never proven."
"Supposedly?"
She shrugged. "There were rumors that he was simply hidden away. No one knows for sure. But Liril was criticized for doing unsanctioned experiments, which wasn't even true. The breeding that produced the dragon was a natural one, and a surprise to everyone in her group. Now she operates outside the auspices of the Travelers, which gives her more freedom, but also puts her at risk. There are people in the world who would love to get their hands on a Traveler, especially an ex-Traveler who no longer enjoys the protection of the Guild."
"Did you share any of this with Cam?"
"No. It's Traveler business. I shouldn't even be sharing it with you."
"My lips are sealed."
She pressed her face against his. "Sealed with a kiss?"
He laughed. "Sealed with a shag, if I can get any energy back, you insatiable, unearthly woman!"
* * *
"So," Colin announced to the family the next day at breakfast. "Ari and I have made a decision."
"I haven't finished interrogating her," Cam objected.
Shooting a cold look at Cam, Colin added, "One that doesn't involve any more harassment of the woman I love."
"Oh please. You've only spent a few days with her."
"Cam—" Ross said warningly. "Enough."
"I doubt you will ever experience the bond or the sevmelle yourself, brother," Colin said, "But you'll just have to take our word for it that it is instant, unbreakable, and permanent."
Cam rolled his eyes.
"We're leaving. Nothing against any of you, but it's our nature to wander. Hers, and mine. I could take her away from here on one of my treks. There are plenty of places in this world that I haven't yet visited. Most of Africa. A good portion of Latin America. I've always wanted to walk the Silk Road, but given how many countries it crosses where there is war flaring, I haven't made that journey yet. And there's Antarctica waiting, too."
"Forget that," snarled Cam. "I need you here. We need you. You're too powerful a shifter. You promised me you would settle down and do some work for me instead of wandering all over the fucking globe."
"Fine. I will work for you. But I'm not giving up my explorations, and Ariane is a Traveler. Like me, exploring is what she does."
"If you think I'm going to greenlight a fucking alien wandering around in this world—"
"Actually, Ari and I will wander, but not here. She wants to go home. She wants to take Rin home. I want to explore. We will go together back to her world. I will learn everything I can about that place. And, occasionally, if you're a good lad and leave me the fuck alone, I will send you a report."
It would be tempting, Colin knew. Colin had never officially worked for Cam in the other world, and he had kept many of his observations to himself. Of course, it was just as forbidden for him to wander around in her world as it was for her to explore his, but Colin was counting on Cam's need to have information and some semblance of control. He had seen the way his brother's eyes had lit up at the idea of "reports" from another world. He certainly didn't want the people in Dunya to find out too much about Earth, especially all her high technology. But the reverse? Cam wouldn't be able to resist having his own personal spy in that world.
"Are you sure about this?" Ross asked.
"Yes. Ari has family who will be missing her." He paused. "She has a life there. And I am willing to make my life wherever hers is."
"You have family here," Ross pointed out.
"I will return periodically. I'll probably see you guys just as often as I would if I did my wandering in our world."
"We don't know for certain that the gateway will remain open. You might leave here and never be able to return."
"How likely is that? There's been a Rift near Mallochbirn for hundreds of years, if not a good deal longer. I am one of the few people who can locate it." He paused again. "We do know something of Dunya, remember. How do you suppose we got that information? I suspect I won't be the first Malloch to go through the Barrier and report back something of what the other world is like. And who knows, maybe if there really are the Nine Worlds that the Travelers speak of, I will learn how to get access to some of the others, too."
He could see Cameron's eyes gleaming, speculating, planning.
"We need to know about the darklings," Cam said after a few more moments of thought. "Just because I can shift to one doesn't mean I understand vampires. Are they identical to our vampires or different? There's clearly something going on with those creatures if they are hanging out at the Rift and manipulating people into crossing. They are dangerous, though. I wouldn't want you to get too close. Just find out what the fuck they are up to."
Colin smiled. He and Ariane were going through the Barrier to her world.
They were going to be together.
* * *
They performed the hand fasting ritual on the day before they left. Down in the crystal cavern, with Rin and Prince the cat looking on, Ross wound an old piece of the traditional Malloch clan tartan, whose colors had been banned after Culloden, around the joined hands of Colin and Ariane. Hamish played upon his bagpipes, Mrs. Dumfries beamed, Jamie and his betrothed Effie danced and Kate laughed, insisting that she could feel her baby doing a Highland jig in her belly. Even Cam managed a few smiles when the local whiskey went round.
"Thank you so much," Ariane said to Kate, hugging her. Her English was becoming fluent, although she was sure she must have a dreadful accent. "I'm sorry I won't be here for your babe's birth."
"You'll come back to visit us, though."
"We will, yes."
"Be bloody careful, Col," Ross warned. "I don't want to have to swim through to rescue you from some medieval dungeon where they imprison their captured spies."
"I'm an explorer," Colin said with a straight face. "Not a spy."
"Keep him safe, Traveler," Cam growled, after a quick embrace of his younger brother.
I love my family, but I'm bloody relieved to get away from them, Colin admitted via the Traveler's bond as he and Ariane swam towards the Barrier. Rin, now fully restored to health, followed them. He seemed reconciled to the separation from Ariane and happy about the prospect of meeting some females of his species. Want big love, he had told her. Like you. Miss my cat. Can have cat in our world?
"Most cats hate water, Rin, so I don't think so. Maybe you'll find a mate and have a baby sea dragon instead."
Baby sea dragon, Rin agreed, as if that might be an acceptable substitute for a cat.
"Rin wants a cat," she told Colin. "But he'll take a baby sea dragon instead."
Colin laughed. The thought of a baby sea dragon sounded good to him, too. Would any child of his and Ari's be a shifter? In his own world, probably, but in hers, he didn't know.
Bairns? Was he seriously thinking about bairns?
Why not? Having his own family would be a whole new territory to explore.
Hang on tight, he told Ariane, closing his tentacles firmly around her. It's not as nasty going in this direction, but the Rift is always a bit turbulent.
It was dawn in Dunya when they broke through, all three of them safe and sound. The sky was sunny, the seas were calm, and there was not a darkling in sight.
O brave new world, that has such people in't!
"What's that?"
"Shakespeare."
"What is Shakespeare?"
Colin laughed and explained. He looked forward to a lifetime of learning—he about her world, and she about his.
THE END