How long would it take him to find the wreck? She had no way to know, so she relaxed in one of the seats and watched the waves.
The endless vista of sparkling ocean was remarkably hypnotic, and the sight had lulled her half asleep when she heard a great splash. She jerked upright and swiveled around to see the dragon swimming toward her with the suitcase clutched in one paw.
As he drew near, he shimmered into a change and became the man. The boat rocked as he grabbed the short ladder toward the rear on the port side. He held on, gasping. She hovered nearby. “Can I help?”
He shook his head. “It’s really heavy. Watch out.”
She stepped back, and he climbed up the ladder with the suitcase dangling from one hand. He heaved it into the boat, and it landed with spray of cold water and a solid thud. Then he knelt beside the case, unzipped it and flipped the lid back.
Gold winked at them. There were also blackened objects that Pia couldn’t identify, possibly tarnished silver items. There were coins, and a small chest, and something that looked mechanical and felt magical.
“Wow. Just, wow.” She pointed to it. “Is that a sextant?”
He nodded, still breathing hard. He fingered a coin as he said, “This stuff was half buried and in leather bags that deteriorated when I tried to pick them up. There’s probably enough to fill two more suitcases down below. Tatiana wanted to find a new land badly, and she was willing to pay for it.”
“What do you want to do?” Pia asked. “You can dump out what’s in the suitcase, go back down and collect the rest of it now, if you want.”
He shook his head. “It’s not going anywhere. We can go back, and I’ll buy some containers to haul it all in.”
“Well, if you’re sure—” she began. The sat phone rang. She reached for it and clicked it on. “Hello?”
“It’s Eva.” Eva didn’t sound like herself, her voice harsh and ragged. “Liam’s gone.”
“What?” The words were perfectly audible, but they came out of nowhere, and they made no sense. Pia shook her head. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“Liam is missing,” Eva said, enunciating carefully. “He’s missing, Pia. We put him down for a nap, and now he’s gone. The house was locked tight. Hugh stayed inside, and I walked the yard outside, but the window in his bedroom is wide open and he is fucking gone—”
“Oh my God.” Pia’s world bottomed out. The sat phone fell from her nerveless fingers.
Dragos didn’t need to ask what had been said; he had already heard it. His bronze skin turned ashen, his eyes stark.
Eva was still talking. The words sounded far away and small coming from the phone. As Pia reached for the phone, Dragos crouched and sprang into the air, leaping so hard the boat rocked wildly and knocked her back against the side. He shapeshifted in midair and snatched her up in one claw. He tore through the sky, his huge body straining as they arrowed back to the islands.
Pia went numb. She couldn’t feel her feet, or her lips. “The phone!”
Dragos said tensely, “I’m talking to her. They found Liam’s scent outside and followed it. It disappeared down the road. The man from the bar—not Merrous, the other one—his scent was at the spot where Liam’s stopped.”
“Oh God, oh God.” This reality was outrageous, nightmarish beyond belief. She screamed, “Are you telling me those bastards have my baby?”
The dragon growled and flew harder.
A hollow, roaring silence filled her mind. Time stopped and started in fitful spurts.
They reached the island and slammed to earth. Dragos shapeshifted again, but only partially. He was gigantic, monstrous, his face and muscles contorted, his hands long with lethally sharp talons.
Occasionally Wyr went into a partial shapeshift in times of extremity. At other times, some could even shapeshift small changes like bringing out their talons, but Pia had only seen Dragos caught in the monstrous half-shift once, when they had mated last year. In spite of her shock over Liam and how much she loved him, she almost recoiled from the sight.
But he was her mate, and she had never needed a monster more than she did right now. He snatched her hand, and they raced up the path.
***
As they neared the house, the dragon let go of Pia’s hand and lunged ahead, his long legs eating up the distance. He slammed through the door so hard it tore off its hinges, and he bounded up the stairs to his son’s bedroom. It looked serene, with nothing displaced. He scented everything carefully. Nobody had been in Liam’s room except for him, Pia, Eva and Hugh.
The window was wide open, and Liam’s scent was on the sill. He looked outside. Pia had run around the house and was talking to Eva and Hugh. The bodyguards’ bodies were tense, their eyes heartsick.