Firefighter Sea Dragon (Fire & Rescue Shifters 4)

*And I was not nervous about you two meeting,* John replied. *Now…I am not quite so sanguine.*

Still, at least his sister’s jibes had lightened Neridia’s mood. John would happily endure days worth of teasing for that. Which was just as well, seeing that he probably would have to. His sister had never been one to make idle threats.

Neridia giggled again as sh

e sensed his resignation, patting his scaled neck in sympathy. Then she leaned over, looking down through the glittering waves. “What’s she doing now?”

*What I called her here to do.* Even without being able to put his head underwater to track his sister’s position, he could sense the swirling currents of her movements. *She is dancing.*

In a spray of sea foam, his sister broke the surface some way off. Her body hung in a breathtaking arc for a moment, the tip of her tail coming clean out of the water with the force of her leap. Her webbed forefeet spread wide, as if she sought to gather the entire sky in her embrace.

With an ear-splitting crash, she dove back under the water again. Trails of silver bubbles rose in her wake. Twisting elegantly, she swirled her body around them, herding them together. Beneath the water’s surface, a delicate, gleaming sphere of air started to form.

Leap by leap and twist by twist, she captured the sky and coaxed it under the sea. John sang his sister’s name in admiration, saluting her artistry.

He could tell Neridia was equally impressed. “Oh, she’s so beautiful. I’d never have imagined something so big could move so gracefully.”

*My sister is a master of her art,* John sent, pride filling his mental tone. *This form of dance does not come naturally to most of our people, but she has always had an affinity for air.* His jaws parted a little in a wry smile. *Do not tell her this, but I sometimes think that she would have made a much better Walker-Above-Wave than I.*

His sister had finished trapping a glimmering sphere of air within her coils. Carefully, as if putting on a complicated necklace, she manipulated it so that it rested between her shoulders, at the base of her neck. She made a few experimental loops and turns, checking that it was secure, then looked back up at them both.

*I’m ready,* she called up mentally. *I’d normally draw down a much larger quantity if I was restocking Atlantis’s air, but that would take too long. This will be enough to get us there, at least.*

*Hold your breath, my mate,* John told Neridia. *And keep a firm grip.*

She wound both hands into his neck-ruff, taking a deep breath. When he sensed that she was ready, he dove. He could still taste the panic rising in her throat as the ocean closed over them.

*Only a moment,* he reassured her.

Swimming as fast as he could without risking unseating Neridia, he joined his sister. There was a slightly awkward moment transferring Neridia from his neck to hers, but at last his mate was safely settled in the bubble of air.

Neridia gasped, drawing a huge, shaking breath. She said something, but the words stayed trapped in the air around her. From the relief pounding down the mate bond, John suspected it had been something she would not care to repeat telepathically.

“What approach are we taking?” his sister asked in song, once Neridia was secure. “The Pearl Gate?”

John shook his head, answering out loud since there was no need to include Neridia in this particular conversation. “Much as I would like to bring the Empress-in-Waiting home in glory, we must take a less visible route. The Knight-Commander does not want rumors of her existence to get out before she has been presented to the Sea Council.”

“He’d better not hope to keep it secret much longer than that. The screams of outrage will be heard across the entire city.” She flicked her tail, propelling herself through the water. “Let’s take the Broken Road, then. It’s usually only used by us dancers, and there are no air runs scheduled for today. It should be empty.”

John hummed a note of agreement. Dropping back a little, he curved to bring one eye level with Neridia. *I must range ahead, and check that our path is clear. I may need to move out of your sight, but do not fear. I am always but a thought away.*

Neridia nodded, though her racing heartbeat pounded down the mate bond. The bubble of air surrounding her seemed very small and fragile. He could sense her fearful awareness of the cold water pressing down all around.

He wished that he could comfort her, but he had no words to do so. How could she find the ocean claustrophobic? To him, it was freedom.

Rolling away from her, he dove. And at last, at last, he could swim unhindered.

Chase and Dai had occasionally teased him about the way he had to be carried on their backs whenever Alpha Team had to race to the site of an emergency. The pegasus and red dragon could not help pitying anyone who could not fly as they did.

He’d always smiled, and said nothing. They were like children proudly hoarding a shiny piece of glass, having never seen a diamond.

Now, John flew with a freedom that his winged colleagues could not even imagine. No ungainly flapping, no constant fight against gravity; he moved as easily as thought. With the merest twist of his tail, the slightest flick of a webbed foot, he could stoop faster than a striking hawk, or hover more gracefully than any hummingbird.

The entire sea was his, and it was vaster than any sky.

He closed his nostrils, holding his last breath of air safe in his vast lungs, and spread his neck ruff to better taste the water through the hidden gills underneath. He had been forced to breathe the harsh air and chemical-filled waters near human cities for so long, he had almost forgotten how sweet the sea could be. The pure water was like a benediction through his gills, washing him clean of the reek of humanity.

But he could not allow himself to become distracted by the ecstasy of being home again. Alert for any danger, he probed into the dark depths with short, wordless notes. The echoes bounced back to him, allowing him to feel the shape of the unseen ocean floor as easily as if he ran his hands over it.