Chapter Sixteen
Aric
He awoke with a start.
Idiot! His mad rush back to her quarters to ensure she was protected had resulted in being dragged into bed and then passing out until—he glanced at the clock—the next morning! The fight had taken a lot out of him, and the sex even more, but this was inexcusable. He was a dragon, and he’d been needed.
Instead he’d run off to ensure his own personal interests were looked after, and then fallen into bed with her. He was ashamed of himself, and also thankful that obviously the others had won the fight, or he probably wouldn’t be lying there. Sliding out of bed while doing his best not to awaken Kaitlyn, he grabbed his phone.
There were several missed texts and calls from Colonel Mara, asking him to come meet with her immediately, that it was urgent. The most recent was less than an hour ago asking for him to meet her in the cavern. That was a good sign. It meant the base was under their control at least.
“Aric?”
He turned. Kaitlyn was sitting up in bed, the covers pulled tightly to her neck instead of letting them fall. Either she was cold, or she didn’t feel like exposing herself to him just then. He hoped it was the former; he could help with that.
“Yes?”
“Did you stay the night?”
There was something in her voice that made him fear for telling the truth, but he wasn’t about to start lying to her now. “Yes. We passed out after–” The way her face tightened made him pause. “After. I just woke up now.”
Was she having regrets? He couldn’t read her face, and his brain was trying to comprehend both that and what might be going on with the Outsiders and Colonel Mara’s need to see him.
“Okay. Can you pass me my shirt?” she pointed to the ground.
“Um, do you have another one?” he asked, picking up the shirt to reveal the rip that had been his method of removing it from her sexy body.
Kaitlyn rolled her eyes ruefully. “I forgot you did that.”
“Me too,” he admitted sheepishly, heading for the door. “I’ll let you get dressed.”
“Thanks.” She made no move to get up from the bed.
Something was off between them. Had it been his staying the night, or was she having second thoughts about them hooking up again? Hopefully she didn’t regret anything, because he certainly didn’t. She was amazing in bed, and her body, so soft and perfect, turned him on even just looking at the curves of her shoulders.
“I’ll see you later,” he said.
“Bye.”
He left, stopping by his quarters briefly to change before he made his way down into the bowels of the complex as fast as he could. Shame built within him as he went. He’d messed two things up the day before. His growing closeness to Kaitlyn, and his position and respect as a dragon with Colonel Mara and the other dragon guards who would have fought.
Emerging into the cavern he saw that the debris from the battle was still all over the place. Most of the human remains were gone, though the battlesuits themselves lay where they had fallen, ripped and torn. A few bodies of the Outsiders remained as well, surrounded by teams of scientists.
“Aric, how nice of you to join us.”
Knuckles popped on his fist as he walked up to the group, ignoring Kallore’s sarcastic greeting. It had been he who had dove from the sky the day before, the giant red dragon that had wreaked so much havoc amongst the Outsiders. It was understandable why he had gone so berserk. His mate was the commander of the base, and her life had been directly threatened by the outbreak.
Colonel Mara waved Kallore silent. “Thank you for coming,” she said, pointedly barbing the words in Kallore’s direction. “I know this wasn’t your fight, but I wanted to thank you for putting yourself in harm’s way yesterday without being asked.”
Kallore looked sullen at the reminder that Aric had been in the cavern fighting the Outsiders too. He stayed quiet though, having said his piece. Several other men standing around, all obviously dragons, shifted back and forth but said nothing.
Aric realized one of them was looking at him directly, and he swallowed nervously. It was the same man he’d punched while trying to get his dragon under control after kissing Kaitlyn. Although he recalled hearing about consequences, he’d not followed through on that threat yet.
Aric wished he could thank the man, to tell him that beating the piss out of him and forcing the medics to keep him in the infirmary for the rest of the day and night had done wonders to sort his dragon out. Something about the casual beating he’d administered had left Aric’s dragon weakened, or at least reluctant to try and escape. Now that he’d had sex with Kaitlyn it was content to just come along for the ride, even if they hadn’t truly mated yet.
“I’m a dragon,” he stated, realizing Colonel Mara was awaiting a response. “I can’t just stand by while others are in danger.” Especially if one of them is my mate.
The other dragons gave small nods of respect at his statement, easing the tension somewhat. Even Kallore calmed down a level.
“What’s the situation?” he asked. “How did it work out?”
“Five of them escaped,” Colonel Mara said without hesitation.
“I’ll help chase them down.” He spoke without thinking, without hesitation. The world was in danger, and his weapons were the strongest. None of the others were as strong with their powers as he. They had no other cobalt dragons at their disposal.
“No!” Colonel Mara spoke swiftly, almost shouting the denial.
“Why not? I can help. I’m strong. Ask them,” he said, pointing at the other shifters. “They know that my powers are the strongest, even if nobody likes to admit it.”
She sighed. “It’s not that. You saw them fight, correct?”
He nodded.
“So you saw how they kill then. How they can simply suck the life out of someone and move on.”
“Yes.”
“Well, you’re not suited to fight against that,” she said. “They are.”
He frowned. “What’s the difference?”
“We’re mated.” He didn’t recognize the tall man who spoke.
“What Cowl here is trying to say,” Colonel Mara continued, “is that a mated dragon has protection against this ability. We don’t really understand how, but the act of being mated, of forming that bond, gives them a protection against having their lifeforce stolen. The Outsiders literally cannot take it.”
“On top of that,” another man spoke up, his eyes the piercing green that could only belong to an Emerald dragon. “Our powers become stronger when directed against the Outsiders once we’re mated. I bet your lightning couldn’t penetrate their armor, could it?”
Aric was forced to admit the truth of that. “I had to exploit holes that others had made. If I could hit the wounds, they were toast. But you’re right, I couldn’t. Even with my strongest attack I only managed to shear off an arm that was probably already wounded.”
“Precisely.” Colonel Mara took over again. “Their weapons will work. Yours won’t, and it’s not a slight against you. We’re not sure how it actually works, but it does. Some of our dragons have seen it happen and experienced it in person.”
Aric ground his teeth together in impotent frustration. “What can I do to help then?”
Colonel Mara hesitated a moment. “I have four teams of dragons at my disposal. I’m sending them in pursuit of the Outsiders, to hunt them down and destroy them. To do so, however, will leave me unguarded here. I know you aren’t mated, but—”
“I’ll do it.” He didn’t hesitate. They needed him, and he would provide. Besides, Kaitlyn was here with him, and they were so close to being together, even after the events of the night before. If they could admit their feelings for each other…
“Are you sure? You and your associate were due to head home tomorrow. You’ll have to find a reason to tell her for the delay.”
Aric nodded. “I’ll think of something. Not sure what yet, but I will.” He thought furiously for a moment. “I can call in some reinforcements if you want? I have a few friends that will come help.”
“Are you sure? I know that your enclave has promised to support us, but I hadn’t intended to draw upon their resources so soon after signing our agreement.” She bit her lip unhappily. “Truthfully I’d hoped this would be over by now.”
“I’m sure,” he said forcefully, knowing exactly who he’d call. “But I need to know, how did this happen? I thought the far side of the portal was too radioactive for the Outsiders. Weren’t there plans to add more radioactive material to their end as well?”
“That would be my fault.”
Aric turned to regard a tall man with platinum hair down past his shoulders. He was wearing a white lab coat and looked for all the world like a tall human scientist. Except he was a dragon. There was no doubt about that in Aric’s mind.
“I’m Kyen,” he said, introducing himself. “This is Lianna, my, um, assistant. We’ve been working on the study of the portal for a while now, and we thought we could close it.”
“That’s what drew me out of the meeting,” Colonel Mara said, explaining. “Kyen told me that they were ready to try.”
“What went wrong?”
Kyen winced. “We miscalculated somewhere obviously. We didn’t close the portal, but instead its location, um, jumped, is the best word I can think of. We didn’t realize it at first until our first probe came back in from the other side, revealing that it was in a new location on the Outsider world. We prepared our emergency launch of radioactive isotopes, but they still got some forces through before we could cut off the supply, obviously.”
Aric nodded slowly, digesting that information. “Unfortunate, but I understand the need to try.”
“Yes,” Kyen agreed. “Next time we’ll be ready though, and we won’t hesitate to launch if it doesn’t work. We’ll also have more dragons here and ready to fight. We got arrogant. Never again.”
“Okay, I have things I need to organize. Aric, I’ll leave your associate and any reinforcements in your hands. Thank you for the offer.” She turned and headed off, the other dragons going with her while she barked orders for them to gather their teams and go after the Outsiders.
Aric stayed rooted to the spot for a few minutes, wrestling with his own problem. The negotiations had been going well, and they’d been about ready to sign the agreement. How was he now supposed to tell her they were delayed indefinitely, without her asking too many questions?
He was going to have to come up with something, and fast.