Mermaids are Menacing (Book 2) Complete

78.) All In the Family

"I dont think you have the ability...to keep me to yourself. Isnt that something for the actual high lord to decide?" I asked.

"Are you baiting me?" Dante asked.

Manipulating him would be easier if he was stupid unfortunately hes sharp but I didn't let the emotions show on my face.

"Hardly, your father was verrry clear. You get one, Talon gets one, aaaand then, well im sure he'll tell me who's coming to visit... at least before they arrive." I explained lightly, as if I was talking about the weather and not my future.

Dante looked at me as if i had grown a second head. At this point it wasn't impossible, considering the other appendages that have ruptured out of me in the last few years.

"It seems your brain failed to evolve with the rest of you... I won the rights to you in combat. Your fate is mine to design." He reiterated aggresivly. He said pulling me in.

"I dont think im the one you should be convincing." I told him.

The more animosity I added between Dante and his father the better. If I was lucky maybe the two would kill eachother and leave me alone. He held my head in his hands and turned it side to side facing up at him. I felt the tap of a nail gently on the back of my head and knew it had the capability to kill me but wouldnt. He used a single thumb and rubbed the right horn that grew from my hair line.

"The hatchlings fangs have come in, in wont be long till the rest of the teeth follow. They will be able to eat well without you soon... which means you will be moved to my wing." Dante explained. "Lets say after the banquet in two weeks."

"What about my children?" I asked suddenly my anxiety couldn't be kept out of my voice. Moving? I felt his tail creep around my side and curl around my tail. Maybe he could feel the blood pounding in my veins.

"I have no claim to them. Since the drake isnt hibernating they will return to his wing for rearing."  He said, as if to prove his point he immediatly let go of me and moved  three steps away. but the distance was gaping.

I lost my temper as i spun to confront him.

"No! they stay with me!" I shouted, chasing after him.

He couldn't do it. The high lord said that I could stay with them. That was the only part of this deal that made being here tolerable. livable. Dante couldnt keep them from me! I grabbed the back of his vest to slow him down but found myself being dragged along and stumbling, He would be easily out of reach in a few steps. My efforts to halt him were insignificant but he stopped in place. I saw his tail smack the ground once and I couldn't tell if he was annoyed or suprised by my actions.

He turned around so quick it made my head spin. The difference in strength was impossible to ignore. He bent his head down to my eye level and tilted it to the side. Inspecting me. His eyes were such a dark brown they were nearly black. The light in the room hit them in such a way that the webbing of dark gold iris was barely distinguishable from the slitted pupils.

"You want to see your offspring after you come to my wing?" He asked.

"Of course i want to be with them." I rebuked his callousness.

"Desire is a great motivator." He grinned. "You want to be able to meet your offspring and I'd like to be able to meet my hatchlingsss as soon as possible." He emphasized. "We both have something that the other can provide. With this in mind, Im sure an amicable arrangment can be made." Dante fiddled with the fabric on my shoulder before dropping it.

I looked at the floor again. We were no longer dancing but for some reason i felt that he may as well have been stepping on my toes. It wasnt hard to understand what he was saying. Cooperate well and I'll let you see your kids. Didn't his father say the same thing to me?

Are these men only capable of finding what someone cares about and using it to threaten others?

Is there no way to kill them and also live well? By digging a pit to bury them, must I also dig a pit for myself to lay in?

"The end result will be the same for me, but the process would be smoother with your voluntary participation." He rubbed his chin as if he was thinking. I lowered my eyes to conceal the rage building there.

"A Dragoness brooding period can be so tempormental, fragile. Im willing to try as many times as it takes to receive a hatchling..but it would be a waste to lose a brooding period because of stress. Wouldn't you rather bare the responsibility to its end in a single endeavor? You are also fond of the offspring you bore, why not have more?"  He tried concincing me with flowery words. I felt his tail dip under my skirt and climb its way up my leg. I tensed up in shock.

"Your welcome to move in earlier if your inclined." He trailed off.

"I think our lesson is over." I told him through gritted teeth. His tail stopped moving and slinked back behind him.

"Untill next time then." He replied coldly and walked out.

...

The kids and I went out to the garden area. The girls liked to stay more in the shadey areas but still wanted to play. I checked on Grandpa tree and was pleased with his growth. Compared to the last time I planted him he shot up like a weed in only a weeks time. I dont know if it was thw blood, or if Vihar had actually taken to peeing on him but he was already as tall as me even if he was thin. I sat down and relaxed beside him.

I placed a whole cooked chicken at his base and watched the writhing tendriled roots rise from the soil a d drag it down. He eats well no matter where he grows.

"Settling in well?" I asked.

"Good soil, good meat." He whispered. "You traveled far."

"It wasnt by choice." I told him. His conversation skills seemed to improve today. Before, he could only say he was hungrey or thirsty. It was great progress. "We are on Green Mountain were those dragon bastard men live."

"Hmm. Soil is high in mana. I can feel the energy radiating deep below my roots. There is a fragment here." He whispered. I felt a shiver up my arms. 
The way he said fragment made my flesh crawl.

"Fragment?" I asked.

"Deep deep down. It has the primordial essence." He agreed. "

"Whats it do?" I asked.

"It reaches." He said criptically. "It desires to be united again. It beats in rythm, becoming louder all the time."

"What does that mean for us?" I asked.

"We listen and wait." He said. "The coming days will not be easy, grand daughter."

"They were never easy." I shrugged.

"The heart hungers for blood, and its soul demands to be united. Be cautious." He warned me.

"I can only try." I agreed.