Reaching up, Kieran placed his hands on Reif, sucking out his panic and replacing it with love. When his hands finally cooled off, Kieran asked, “Reif, do you trust me?”
Looking down at the Shaman, then at Nessie who nodded at the question, Reif sank back down to his chair. Turning back to Kieran, Reif murmured, “Yes I do.”
“Good. Will you listen to the rest of what Zane has to say?” asked Kieran.
Reaching for Nessie’s hand, Reif said, “I will.”
“Go ahead, Zane.”
“Once I figured out this was an elaborate scam, I wanted to know why they wasted your time, not to mention the big money they spent having all the documents made. You told us once you found the green diamond and handed it over, you and your people would be free. But what if you can’t find it? Then what?”
“Then I have to keep stealing.”
“Exactly, and your father accepted those terms, meaning he can’t go to the High Council and complain. They set you up to fail.”
“Fucking sonofabitches!” exclaimed Reif. “I must tell my father.”
“No, you don’t, because you’re going to find the green diamond and hand it over.” Zane grinned.
“I’m confused, bro,” said Dakota. “If the green diamond doesn’t exist, how is Reif going to hand it over?”
“The one Reif is looking for doesn’t exist,” said Zane. “But what happens if Reif does hand over a green diamond? What happens to the agreement between the assholes and Reif’s father?”
“They’d have to honor it,” Slate said, “but I see two problems with your plan. One, where the hell would Reif get a green diamond and, two, the assholes would know it wasn’t the right one.”
“Ah, ha,” laughed Zane. “How would the assholes know that? There aren’t any pictures of it, just a vague description in the documents. But more important, do you really think these pricks are going to tell Reif the green diamond isn’t the right one? Reif and his father could then go to the High Council to force these motherfuckers to keep their word,” replied Zane.
“Very clever,” said Logan, “but that still leaves the problem of finding a non-existent green diamond? “How do you propose to solve that one?”
“Fionn, this is where you come in,” Zane grinned.
Fionn smiled back. “I have a very large green diamond in my hoard that I got from my mother, you can have. It’s about the same size as the make-believe one and worth afortune because the green color is embedded throughout the entire diamond.”
“You would do that for me?” asked Reif, dumbstruck at Fionn’s generous offer.
“Yup! That’s what we do in this pack, right?” Fionn looked at his new family, and grinned when they all nodded. “Helping someone in trouble is what my pack is all about!”
Chapter 36
Pulling a large, green diamond from his pocket and holding it out to Reif, he smiled and said, “Here, it’s yours.”
“But it belonged to your mother,” Reif protested, rejecting the offer.
“Yes, it did, but she’d want me to give it to you and Brian to help you guys. Not so long ago, Jackson helped me…someone he’d never met…and saved my hoard, so this is my opportunity to pay it forward.” Sliding the diamond down the table to the sea dragon, Fionn continued, “Take it, and if you ever get a chance to help someone in need, do it.”
Picking up the glowing gem, Reif held it up for all to see. “I…I…” he stuttered, choking up with emotion, “you have no idea what this means to my people. Finally…we’ll be free to live our lives without the sword of Damocles hanging over our heads…maybe other sea dragons will also be able to find their Fated Mates.”
“Fionn, I canna thank ye enough for freeing Reif and giving our babies a chance for a guid life,” Brian said.
“Wait, what babies?” David asked, eyeballing Reif and Brian.
“Ahh, Nessie, did you change your mind about telling?” asked Reif.
“Ay, is that all right?” Brian asked.
“Yup, but I still would like to keep it a secret from anyone outside this room, agreed?” asked Reif, looking at all of them as they nodded their assent.
Brian took over, “Reif’s sea dragon is pregnant with five eggs. In aboot three months, his beast will lay them andthree months after that, our five little sea dragons will be born.”
