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“I don’t like the idea of one of those bloodthirsty mermaids getting anywhere close to you,” Vasily continued.
Luka touched Amaru’s chin and the mage turned to look at him. “Can an iara smell that Vasily and I are dragons?”
“No, not until they are very close. They don’t have a great sense of smell, actually.”
“Then let me be the bait. You will hide close by and capture the song as she approaches. Vasily will also hide nearby in his dragon form as backup to protect you or me in case there is a problem.”
Amaru glared at them both when Luka finished with his idea. “You know I can do this. I’ve actually done this before.”
Vasily wrapped an arm around Amaru’s tense shoulders and pulled him into his embrace so that his back rested against Vasily’s chest. “It’s not an issue of whether you’re able to do this. We are confident you can. It’s a question of should. You now have two mates who will forever be incredibly protective of your person. Plus, we all know Irany needs your help to wake your people. If something were to happen to you, it could doom all that remains of the Sousa and the lightning dragons.”
The mage dropped his head to Vasily’s shoulder and loudly moaned, “Evil! You’re even more evil when you use logic. Okay, Luka gets to be bait this time, but I get to do it next time.”
“All right. You can be bait the next time when the fate of your entire clan isn’t hanging in the balance,” Luka agreed, pressing a quick kiss to the tip of Amaru’s nose.
“Maybe,” Vasily muttered into Amaru’s hair. It was going to be a cold day in hell when he let his mage mate put himself in harm’s way.
With everyone’s jobs worked out, they continued to hike toward the stream. It wasn’t one of the main tributaries of the Amazon River, which raised some interesting questions about how the iara managed to find its way to this stream. All the stories and myths linked to them clearly stated they made their home along the Amazon River. Someone was either far away from home, or the myths were liars.
The stream was swollen and swiftly moving over the large boulders that jutted out here and there. Trees and bushes crowded close to the shore, offering cover for Vasily and Amaru. Luka strolled out onto a nice flat rock and stretched a quarter of the way into the river.
Vasily slunk into position and frowned. There was a problem. The trees here were all too close. He couldn’t shift into his dragon without his dragon’s enormous body slamming into the trees and creating a great racket that would scare off the iara along with any other animals in the area. Luka could undoubtedly handle a single iara with no issue, but he wanted to be ready in case there were other problems.
Setting his bag on the ground, Vasily kneeled behind a bush and peered through the branches to find the sexy dragon making a big show of dropping his bag on the rock and stretching his arms over his head. He squatted and splashed some water on his face, neck, and arms. Yes, he very much looked like the helpless explorer who wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings. The perfect target.
Less than ten minutes had passed of Luka relaxing in the shade while snapping pictures on his phone when a soft sound rose above the burble and splash of the water. At first, Vasily thought it was merely bird song, but it was blending in with the water and the play of the breeze through the leaves.
A hand rapidly patted him on the shoulder and he looked where Amaru pointed. Something was moving slowly upstream in the water, drawing closer and closer to Luka. It could almost be mistaken for a caiman, except for the tiny flash of fin poking above the water.
“You good?” Vasily whispered to Amaru.
The mage nodded once as he shoved something small and slightly glowing into his ears to protect him from the iara’s song. He then unscrewed the lids from two jars at his feet. He was clearly ready to uphold his end of the bargain.
Vasily turned his gaze toward Luka only to have all the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. A woman’s head was now sticking completely out of the water not more than a dozen feet away from Luka. Her green hair clung to her head and swayed hypnotically in the rushing waters. Her full lips were the same shade of green and were perfectly offset by her light brown skin. Enormous brown eyes dominated her round face. She was surprisingly lovely.
Maybe.
It was hard to tell.
His mind kept being dragged back to her mouth and the way it moved as she sang.
