“You are home,” Talon went to Mercury, but he backed away, swaying, his gaze devastated.
“I am not. I never did anything. Do you want to put one of those collar things back on me? Do it. Do you want to send me away? I’ll go. This was supposed to be my home. I thought—I thought this was gonna be my home.” A single tear slid down Mercury’s face, and he slapped it away. “I really thought that this was going to be my new place. I want to leave.”
Cain shook his head and said, “Oh honey, you’re so weak, and you’ve just barely bonded. You’re going to be too sick to leave for a little while.”
His hailee stood there, chin up, so tiny, so skinny.
So tired.
“No, I don’t think so.” Mercury held out his hand, almost like he was reaching for Talon, and Talon reached back. “I would’ve loved you like nobody else ever did. I would’ve been the best.”
Then Mercury dropped the stone into his hand, stared at him, and then collapsed like a rag doll.
Talon roared, the walls shaking with it. He scooped up Mercury and the stone, backing away from his brother and his supposed best friend, shaking his head.
“Look what you did!”
Triton blinked at him. “I didn’t do anything! You’re out of your mind. I said the truth. They’re going to try to use him!”
“That’s not true. You are all scared he’s going to hurt you?” This was his hailee. His lover. “I’m leaving. I’ll take him, and I’m going.” He dropped the stone on Mercury’s chest. “We’ll find somewhere else to be.”
He couldn’t believe that his brother, his best friend, his supposed family would attack them like this.
“I didn’t do anything,” Triton roared.
Reno and Kami stood up together, both of them beginning to fuss and shout, and he didn’t want to hear any of this. Talon was going to take his mate, and he was going to go because his hailee would be safe with him and?—
“Enough.”
That wasn’t a roar. It wasn’t even a bark. It was a single word, and they all went silent.
Cain looked at everyone and slowly moved his hand toward the floor, palm down, and they all sat, Talon still cradling Mercury. “Be at ease, dragons. No one has to leave. Mercury’s safety is our first concern. Should someone try to use him, we will respond to that person with extreme displeasure.”
Triton opened his mouth, and Cain held up one finger.
“No, it’s my turn. Everyone needs to be calm. We have seers, we have the greatest group of warriors possibly in the universewho are here because they choose to be here, because they love it here. We are building a good world together. Should anyone come for Mercury, for any of the babies, for any of you, I will be incredibly put out.”
Talon cradled Mercury to his chest. “He just wants a place to belong. Friends. If you fear him, he’ll never have that.”
And that broke his heart.
Kami scoffed. “Dude. I am not afraid of him. He’s so cool! That’s my problem, though.”
Talon scowled. “I don’t follow.”
“He’s cool, he’s got this amazing skill, and somebody’s gonna come try to use it, no question. But—” Kami held up one finger, because Talon had already heard Kami bitch about that, and he was gonna just rip him a new one. “Listen to me. Now that we all know that it’s a situation, we all work with it. He’s got you, and me, Reno, Cain, and all the rest of us. But the biggest thing he has? Tal, it’s you. You’re the biggest, baddest motherfucker in the valley. And the ocean. And the mountains.”
Reno growled, “Hey!”
Triton raised an eyebrow.
Cain rolled his eyes.
Boone and Durango just looked at each other and went to the kitchen to hunt for snacks.
“Would you like me to call Jack in so he can dick measure with the rest of you?” Cain asked.
Talon glanced at Cain. “No, I don’t think so. There’s not a whole lot of room left in here.” Not only that but Jack was way above his pay grade.
