Page 27 of Dragon’s Rebel

Chapter 12

The room went completely silent. Rebel had stopped scrolling down the screen. Nobody looked at each other.

Finally Tyr broke the silence. “Fuck.”

That pretty much summed it up. Thorne felt a cold, hollow place in the pit of his stomach.

Duty, Thorne told himself. It was his duty to do everything he could to stop Vyrkos. That meant he had to find the Dolphin Seal. If the legend were true—though he still wasn’t sure it was—then the only way that could happen was if he and Rebel were mates.

Rebel slammed her fists down on the worktop. “Dammit!” She shoved her chair back violently and shouldered past Tyr, pacing like a caged lioness.

“I thought it would work,” she muttered. “And it was all for nothing. Shit.” She picked up a deck of cards from the table and threw them across the room.

Thorne could feel her emotions churning. He wished he could go over there and comfort her.

He forced himself to crunch the numbers in his head. At least we know the serum will probably work, he said. 94% chance. And there’s a 50% chance my dragon will be fine.

“Less,” Zane said quietly. “47.2.”

“Shit,” Rebel muttered. “That’s jacked up.” Tempest looked stricken.

It doesn’t matter. Thorne deliberately broadcast his mental voice so they could all hear him. I can’t stay like this. It’s been weeks. The tomb is beginning to weaken again. We’re no closer to finding the other Seals than we ever were. I need my computer-keyboard-sized hands and my fucking opposable thumbs.

He needed to be able to court his mate. He needed to be human. He didn’t say that out loud; Rebel was upset enough.

Leave it to Tyr to open his big mouth.

“He’s right,” Tyr said. “We’re running out of time. We can do all the research we want, but there’s a reason we’ve gotten nowhere, and it’s not because Thorne doesn’t have thumbs. We’re not going to find the Dolphin Seal unless Thorne and Rebel do the horizontal mambo and bond. It’s as simple as that.”

Fuck it all. Shut up, you asshole, Thorne said. Rebel had thrown a gold tiara from the poker game across the room this time. It barely missed the monitor that showed Vyrkos’ tomb.

“Seriously, Tyr?” Blaze snapped. “Could you be any more tactless?”

Tyr’s face grew stubborn. “Just because nobody talks about the elephadragon in the room, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. We all know what the legend says. Destined Mates, naked boinking, magical Seals restored, the end.”

“The legend doesn’t actually specify naked boinking,” Blaze said drily. “Not in so many words.”

Tyr glared at her.

Thorne suppressed a snort, mostly because it would come out fiery and fry the computer equipment. He glanced over at Rebel. She was standing with her back to him, staring at Vyrkos on the screen, arms crossed, body rigid.

“It’s implied,” Tyr went on. “And don’t forget, Blaze had the Seal for years. It didn’t activate until she and Zane—”

“We don’t know what activated it,” Zane interrupted. “And we sure as hell weren’t fucking when Maia busted out of it and put it back in the tomb wall.”

“No,” Tempest said softly. “Blaze sacrificed herself for you—or she tried to. Because she loves you.”

Without turning around, Rebel snapped, “So I have to throw myself under a bus or something? Frankly, I’d prefer the naked boinking.”

So would he, Thorne thought. But it might not be enough. It was possible that nothing he could do would be enough. He couldn’t make her love him.

But he was willing to try. He just hoped that when he was human, she would be willing to try too. But he knew one thing for sure. If anyone was going to die trying to return the Dolphin Seal to the tomb, it was not going to be Rebel. He would never let her do that.

Zane must have heard his thoughts. He said privately to Thorne, So you’re planning to throw yourself under the bus for her instead?

Wouldn’t you? Thorne said. If it were Blaze?

In a heartbeat, his brother said. And so would my dragon.