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  “Jade! I thought you were dead!”

  “Death would have been better than where I have spent the last thousand years, Silvertongue. And by the time I am finished with your mate here, you shall wish for death too!”

  “No! You will release my mate at once!”

  “Not a chance, old friend. This shit heap of a world is better off with one less Witch. Even you should recognize this,” hissed the Green Dragon before turning his back on Nathan, a struggling Phoebe hovered high above the ground in the serpent’s long, muscular tail.

  “Nooo!” Nathan did not have time to think. He simply reacted, sprinting after the slithering beast.

  His muscles burned as he leapt over fallen trees and rocks, but Nathan did not notice. The Green Dragon was a force to be reckoned with and he needed his wits about him to battle the great beast. His huge serpentine body wound through the rocks and greenery of Nathan’s island. All four of his muscular legs working to hasten his retreat to the fierce sea, where he was most at home.

  Nathan had to use all his SeaDragon’s strength and speed to follow the green-scaled sea serpent as he fled to the rocky shores below Nathan’s home. The beast turned back, emerald eyes flashing as he taunted Nathan with his prize. Phoebe.

  “What’s wrong, Silver? Besides the fact that you’ve let another Witch wrap her treacherous lies around your foolish heart,” Ao Guang roared with biting laughter as he dove beneath the waves, taking Nathan’s mate with him.

  Nathan’s heart pounded ferociously in his chest as he looked into Phoebe’s brilliant blue eyes a split second before she was taken from him. Nooo! His Dragon pushed to explode out of him, his powers of Cancer rising up like a storm, but he needed to control his baser instincts if he was to keep her alive. Grrr.

  “Phoebe!” He roared to the skies, calling on his powers of Cancer. Nathan snarled at Jade.

  No, he is only Ao Guang now, my enemy, Nathan thought. He concentrated on the pull of Phoebe’s life force beneath the waters. She was still alive. He could feel her heart beating. Flava meus, his own heart screamed within him. The slithering serpent rose from the murky depths, lifting his body high above the waves with his long, muscular body as he advanced on Nathan once again.

  “Your mate will soon be dead, Warden! She will sink to the bottom like the stone-hearted Witch she is! And then it will just be you and me. What do you say? A battle to the death, for old time’s sake. You owe me that much, Silver,” Jade hissed at Nathan.

  “I owe you nothing,” Nathan snarled, squaring off against the Green Dragon.

  He was hesitant to take his SeaDragon shape, at least not until he tried to use reason one last time. He watched as, on his short wings, Ao Guang, hovered above the water holding a sputtering, drenched Phoebe above the tide with his long, muscular tale.

  Her dress clung to her like a second skin, her golden locks were drenched, plastered to her head and face as she sputtered and coughed. Nathan wanted to fly to her aid, knowing her fear of the water. But he couldn’t not without risking her life. He hated himself for not being quick enough to stop her capture. Fuck!

  Stop it. You’re not helping her this way, he told himself. He couldn’t give in to his rage. Not now. Not when she was counting on him. The storm roared around them, but Nathan heard the Green Dragon loud and clear in his mind. Trepidation kept him frozen in his tracks for the moment.

  Just looking at his frightened, soaked mate made him want to tear the world apart. She was his one true and fated mate. His other half. And he wanted her back at his side, safe and sound. The Green Dragon would pay for this. Grrr.

  He’d never felt such an intense emotion. Not even for Arianna. The elemental of his past was nothing compared to the glory of his true mate. Phoebe, I am coming. Hold on a bit longer. He had to move fast. Nathan would not fail her. Not now. Not ever. Es Meus.

  “Jade think for a moment. Remember who I am. You don’t have to do this. Let my mate go, this is between you and me.”

  “No! I remember who you are, Silver. Do you? You let the Sea Demon take me, you showed no mercy for your childhood friend, you left me alone in hell for a thousand years!”

  “We can still talk this out!”

  “Talk? Ha! You left me to rot!”

  “I did not know you were alive!”

  “It matters not. If I kill your mate now, you will feel the same hell I have been living for a thousand years!”

  “Jade, don’t you think I’ve been suffering too? And I will still. Look, you can have me. I won’t fight. Take me in her stead, just put her down!”

  “You don’t get off that easy, Nathan! This world should be destroyed. The Sea Demon will see to it, but for now I will have my revenge on you!”

  “No!” Nathan roared and felt his Dragon burst through his body. Human skin gave way to diamond hard scales. Rage at the danger to his mate and the powers of his SeaDragon and the sign of Cancer surged through him like a tidal wave.

  Larger than the Green Dragon, Nathan, the Silvertongue, raced over the roaring waves and dove at the beast. He swam quickly to avoid the sea serpent’s muscular coils as they tried to wrap around his sleek formbody.

  Surprised at the sudden attack, Ao Guang dropped Phoebe. Her screams resounded over the booming thunder before she disappeared under the tumultuous waves. Nathan’s heart froze for a split second, but he had no time to react as the serpent raked its claws across his neck and back.

  Knowing she couldn’t swim, but consumed by the battle before him, Nathan could do only one thing to save his mate. Focus, he scolded himself as panic threatened to overwhelm him.

  He summoned his powers of Cancer. Concentrating on gathering his strength, he tried to block the Green Dragon’s next blow, but missed, taking the hit to his left side. Nathan plummeted back to the shore, spitting saltwater and sand as he struggled to find Phoebe through their connection.

  “You won’t find her, Silver! She is dead!”

  “Nooo!” He roared and inhaled. Digging dip inside himself, he pulled on his powers, sending a blast of saltwater straight at the Green Dragon. Like a rocket, the stream of water hit the serpent and knocked him to the side while Nathan called upon his powers further.

  He commanded the water to calm beneath the waves while he searched for his scared mate. He sensed his flava drifting to the bottom, her heart was beating, but slowly. It was as if she was frozen in fear and worse, she was sinking fast.

  His heart thudded in his chest, he had to act now. But it wasn’t easy. Ao Guang lunged again and Nathan was forced to dodge out of the way to avoid the sharp claws of his enemy that had been aiming for his one vulnerability.

  The scales at the base of his throat were the weakest on any Dragon, a blow there, especially with claws, could result in bleeding out. Nathan could not afford such a wound. He just couldn’t die now. Not when Phoebe needed him. He concentrated on her once more. Her lifeforce was slowing down. No! He fought back the panic and focused on what she needed to survive.

  As if he sensed his preoccupation, Ao Guang attacked. The sea serpent struck while he was vulnerable, wrapping his huge, muscular tail around Nathan’s sleek body. Surprise threatened to interrupt his focus, But Nathan held strong. Phoebe was the only thing that mattered.

  Ao Guang squeezed and tightened his coils around Nathan’s SeaDragon’s form. Sort of like a python, but with a million times more strength, he squeezed and crushed until Nathan thought he would pass out from the lack of oxygen. Not yet, his Dragon snarled. Despite the pain and the dots darkening his vision, Nathan understood one thing. He needed to save Phoebe before he blacked out.

  Summoning all his strength, he made a concerted effort to focus all his powers of the Zodiac on controlling a small section of the sea in front of him. The very section where he last saw Phoebe go down. Grrr.

  He directed all of his attention towards saving her, allowing his enemy to continue having the upper hand. Nathan hardly even felt it when Ao Guang raked a massive claw across his back. The
move reopened the same wounds he’d inflicted on Nathan only moments ago. Shifters healed fast but with this type of onslaught, Nathan knew it wouldn’t be long before he was bested.

  He tried to breathe as Ao Guang squeezed again. The bastard thought to crush the life from him. Nathan simply grunted the pain away. He commanded the individual molecules of water in that section to break down and reshape. Thinking fast, he instructed them to form a circle under the thirty-foot waves, a sort of bubble around his mate’s still form.

  One more directive, he gasped as the darkness threatened to close in on him. Push oxygen inside the bubble, he told the molecules. Refresh the air she breathes with each passing moment and form a hard shell to keep any activity up here from harming her. Please Phoebe, hold on.

  He prayed silently that he wasn’t too late, that she could breathe in the protective bubble he’d made, and that she would remain hidden from the Green Dragon’s wrath. Though it took moments for his plan to work, it felt like a lifetime. Fighting his lack of oxygen, Nathan did not waste one second worrying for himself.

  The Green Dragon was on him. Had him wrapped tight, but he was too impatient. He must have wanted Nathan’s death immediately, as he changed tactics. Ao Guang hissed as he hauled his molten lava flame, the blood of the deep ocean that was at his disposal as King of the Eastern Seas.

  “I will end you now, Silver,” he cried before loosing the power of his flame on Nathan.

  “I don’t think so,” growled Nathan. Now that Phoebe’s safety was ensured, and she was safe, Nathan could feel it through their bond, he was able to focus on the battle at hand.

  He pushed out of the serpent’s coils. Ducking and rolling, he avoided the burning liquid as best he could. When Ao Guang was spent, needing a moment to regain his strength. Nathan seized the opportunity.

  He inhaled deeply. The briny air stung his burning lungs as he called upon his heart’s fire. True, his mate was now safe, but the danger she had been in was still fresh in his mind. Grrr. His beast was furious. Only his heart’s flame would do now.

  The purification powers of the SeaDragon’s flame were unparalleled. As was his unmitigated rage at the other Dragon’s impertinence in taking his mate.

  “Ao Guang, Jade, do not make me send you back to the pit. Surrender to me-”

  “Coward! Fight me for your mate’s honor! She is dead to the sea and still you don’t attack? How you have changed, oh mighty Silver,” he hurled insults at Nathan.

  “You leave me no choice,” Nathan growled. He flexed his muscles, grabbing the long tail of the serpent in his claws.

  “No, it can’t be,” cried Ao Guang as he tried to push out of his grip.

  But Nathan did not let go. He rose from the water, droplets of the sea falling from his wings, his enemy tight in his grasp. He allowed the Green Dragon no time to speak or evade him. He’d crossed the line, attacking his mate, and now he would pay.

  Nathan reared his serpentine head back, tossed Ao Guang down to the rocks below, and loosed a flame unlike any he’d ever used before.

  Bright silver fire erupted from within him. A long, fierce battle cry sounded over the entire island with the onslaught. It drowned out Jade’s wails as he continued to envelope him with the purification powers of his heart’s flame made more intense by the powers of Cancer and his almost fully formed matebond. So intensely hot was his fire, that the entire storm, born of Jade’s Dark Magic, ceased. Silence loomed over them both, except for the now natural waves that crashed behind him.

  The Green Dragon’s prone form was still on the rocky shore, his scales receded until he was human again. An unconscious one after all that. But still, Nathan wasn’t taking any chances.

  He called upon his powers of Cancer and encapsulated the unconscious Ao Guang in a prison of water. The same principle as the bubble he’d conjured for his mate, only this time the molecules hardened like diamonds around his prone formbody. That should hold him until the Wardens come to collect his sorry carcass.

  Nathan sucked in a breath; his heart pounded in his chest. He faced the water with his silver dragon’s eyes burning. It was time. He summoned the water to lift his still shielded mate up from the depths of the sea. All other thoughts left his brain as he focused on her and her alone.

  He had not used his heart’s fire since the Battle of the Blood, but he remembered how it worked. The land and sea that were damaged by the evil storm called out by Ao Guang were cleansed, purified and rejuvenated once more. All evidence of battle washed away by his flame.

  The Green Dragon himself would most likely remain unconscious for a while. He would not reawaken for some time, and when he did, he was sure to object to the unbreakable prison Nathan put him in. Too fucking bad for him. He stilled at the thought for a split second but pushed it away as his mate came into view.

  “Phoebe!” He yelled as the air bubble he’d created rose out of the sea. Landing her unconscious form on the shore. Nathan ran to her, gathering her up in his arms. He roared aloud, begging her to wake up.

  “Be at ease, SeaDragon, she is alive,” a familiar voice spoke from the other end of the shore.

  Nathan growled as he spied the ancient Herald move silently over the sand. His unsteady gait made more even by the aid of a large wooden walking stick.

  “Lift her for me, Silvertongue,” he asked, and Nathan was helpless but to obey.

  She looked so small and still. Pale and soaked. Unlike the strong, demanding woman he knew and loved. Yes. Loved.

  “She has swallowed some of the sea, I fear.”

  “Help her.”

  “And what of you, Silvertongue?”

  “I need nothing from you, except for you to save her.”

  “Then it seems you need me sorely, old friend.”

  “You are more bastard than I thought if you think to use her as some kind of sick ransom over me, Herald. But it has been a long time, I am not the same Dragon I was-”

  “No, you’ve learned more now, Silvertongue, and you have grown.”

  “I do not understand you, Herald, but you can have anything of me you want, please, you must save her.”

  “Why?”

  “Because,” he swallowed, tears burning his eyes, “because, she is everything.”

  “Your mate?”

  “Yes. And so much more. She is Phoebe Bright. Witch, woman, friend, mate, maddeningly beautiful and loving. There are not enough words, now help her! Please. I beg you.”

  “She has tamed you, Silvertongue. Not sure how useful you will be to us, a tamed SeaDragon at that.”

  “I will be anything you want, Herald, only heal her.”

  “And you will come back?”

  “Anything. Heal her, Herald, please.”

  “Of course,” the ancient one said and brushed his hand over his Phoebe’s wan face.

  She sputtered once, twice, then sucked in a great breath spitting out water and heaving as she struggled against his hold.

  “Nathan?” she yelled

  “It’s me, flava meus, I’ve got you.”

  CHAPTER 10

  “No, you can’t do this!” Phoebe’s voice rose over that of the Heralds. Shocked and angry glares met her eyes, but still she refused to look at the once face in the room that mattered. His.

  “You cannot ask Nathan Silvertongue to come back as a Warden of Terra because you saved me. It is not fair. He had been left alone for so long. Forgotten by your Council and all he wants is to be left alone-”

  “Ms. Bright, the Silvertongue struck a bargain. The two of you were bound and waterlocked as had been fated before either of you were more than a notion to the gods who shaped the universe,” began the ancient Herald to the nods and assent of the other Heralds in the room, “it is done now, Junior Station Master, your life for his returning to the fold. That was the bargain struck. You must recognize the pact that was made with his vow.”

  “Yes, but-”

  “But nothing, my dear. It is all settled. This meeting is adjourned,
and your names shall be recorded in our ledger.”

  Frustration and anger at the Heralds welled up inside of Phoebe as she turned around and sped from the room. She was so ashamed! She’d failed to do her duty as a Junior Station Master and as a woman.

  She was afraid to even look at Nathan. He must be so angry with her. All he wanted was to live his life on his island alone and away from the Wardens, and then she went and ruined it for him! His voice teased her senses as he called her name, but she hurried on. Wanting to avoid the confrontation that was sure to ensue if he caught up with her, she walked faster. Wiping her tears away as she unlocked the doors to her car.

  “Phoebe!”

  The sounds of heavy footsteps drew nearer and before she could climb in the front seat, he had her wrapped in his embrace. Nuzzling her ear, he inhaled her scent, his lips lingering on her neck for a split second before he turned her to face him.

  “Three weeks, flava, I have been trying to call you for three weeks,” he started.

  “I know, I am sorry, I just didn’t want a scene,” she flattened her hands on his chest, trying hard not to shiver at the feel of his warmth beneath her fingertips.

  So many muscles, all hard and strong, the perfect foil to her softness. By the Goddess, she loved how he made her feel. Safe, secure, protected and tiny in his arms. Silly, but still. No. You are not going down that road again.

  “Look Nathan, I am really sorry. I tried to make them let you go, but they won’t. You don’t have to stay in Virginia with me. I can ask them to move you to a different location.”

  “Why on earth would I want that?” He practically roared the question.

  The sounds of people milling about made her look behind them. They weren’t exactly in a private location and she hardly wanted to have an audience for this, well, whatever this was exactly.

  “There are too many people here, Nathan.”

  “Then let’s go somewhere to talk.”

  “I can call you to schedule a meeting-”