Dragon 7 Chapter 26 (Patreon)

This operation turned into a much larger ordeal than I had expected.

Jadelyn twirled in an asymmetric blue swimsuit, carefully cut away where her shoulder had my mark. “You like?”

I did. I liked a lot of what I saw.

In order to scan the river for the right boat, we had taken the Scalewright’s yacht. I’d been ready for a big boat, but it was beyond what I’d expected. Really, this thing was excessive. I had learned it was technically called a ‘superyacht’ at two-hundred and thirty three feet long yet looked sleek and sporty with enough space that they could invite the whole council and all of their families.

Screw the conclave island, maybe next time we needed to use this.

The time it took to get the boat ready and move. We’d managed to collect the whole bevy of my harem, and they were using the opportunity to wear tight and skimpy swimsuits.

All in the name of ‘fitting in’. Pssh. Like I believed that for a second as they all danced around the deck.

It felt like someone had dropped me in the middle of a fan service anime episode. Yet somewhere on the river, a titan blessed man had a dragon killing spear and desperately wanted to kill me.

That was enough to sober me and keep me from enjoying the sights.

Jadelyn quirked a brow, still standing in front of me and waiting while I got lost in my thoughts.

Right. “You look amazing. I’m just focused on the task at hand. You know, catching the people trying to attack and expose the paranormal community.” My eyes caught on Polydora as she walked across the deck in a suit that was really just two straps criss crossing her body. It barely covered her nipples.

Poly noticed my attention and tossed her hair as she strutted across.

“Seriously, why are you all not taking this more seriously?” I groaned.

“We are.” Scarlett stated as she walked over in a tight red bikini. It was high cut, but she was still the most modest among my harem at the moment.

“But we are blending in.” She gestured around to the other boats, all of which were filled with people in swimsuits.

“What about your mothers?” I gestured to the deck where both Claire and Ruby were lounging in the sun, tanning.

Jadelyn shrugged. “Don’t mind them. My mother is just fine in the water. It’s everybody else that should be worried.”

I glanced down at the picture Elena had drawn again and looked up to scan the boats looking for the one that we wanted. The girls were glancing at phones as they walked around the deck too.

Even if they were showing off their skin, they were still looking for this boat.

“Relax, my king.” Poly came over and cocked her hip to the side. “Right now you have your full harem around you. I’d like to see someone cause a problem for us. And if that weren’t enough, the Scalewrights have enchanted this boat. It might as well go fight a battleship.”

“No fighting battleships.” I warned the ladies.

Jadelyn rolled her eyes. “As long as they don’t stop my shipping business, no sinking battleships.”

I did not entirely like that condition, but wasn’t quite sure if she was being serious.

There were two splashes on the side of the boat followed by the wet patter of feet.

Two siren ladies rounded the center tower of the yacht. “Lady, we’ve spotted the boat.”

“Good, tell the captain the coordinates and get us to it.” Jadelyn demanded before turning to me. “See? All is going according to plan. When we spot it, then we can send over a little boarding party.”

My second wife seemed more confident than ever, but we were in her element. Sirens didn’t conquer the seas because they were good sailors.

I knew that she often felt like she couldn’t contribute as much to protecting me as well as the others, often leaning on her business sense or connections. But on the water, she was able to show me how deadly she could be.

The Scalewright’s yacht heaved itself forward. The behemoth was big enough to cross the open ocean without much trouble. It was eight stories, or apparently eight decks.

This was my first time being on a boat with more than one deck.

“You’ll get used to it.” Scarlett pulled me aside. “She’s just trying to be helpful.”

“This is going way overboard.” I muttered.

Scarlett just raised an eyebrow at me. “Which is exactly how Jadelyn operates. You say you want a puppy, and she’d quickly buy you an army to play with and pick one out of. Then she’d get trainers that came every time you left the house to work with the puppy so you only had to deal with the good parts.”

I blinked. “That’s an oddly specific example. Got something you want to talk about?”

“No.” Scarlett rolled her eyes. “That was forever ago. We are focusing on you and your concern about how overboard she’s going.” Scarlett shrugged. “I gave up years ago trying to rein it in. Just let her have her fun. Besides, once again, we are in the river. Worse comes to worse, just get her in the water and Iapetus himself won’t catch her.”

“Fine.” I grumbled, not liking my mates being so close to trouble. But I also knew I’d have a hell of a time getting them to stay home.

Scarlett gave me a consoling pat on the shoulder and wandered off, swaying her ass which looked incredible in her red bikini. I stored that mental image for later.

I glanced around and saw Sabrina staring at a wall. “You okay?” She was wearing a bulky cover up over her swimsuit to the point I wasn’t sure what it looked like.

She had been a little distant lately.

“These enchantments are intense.” She turned to me. Her glasses gave off a spark as I got closer, and her eyes behind them shifted to pink filled with gold dust and a pair of horns faded into being for a second.

Sabrina shook her head and her glasses suppressed her succubus nature once more. “Sorry.”

“No, tell me. Am I causing you problems?” Sabrina had been a little distant lately, and I was starting to have a theory why.

“You are tempting.” She admitted, staring at the wall rather than looking at me. “I’m having trouble keeping my succubus nature down when you are around. Sir Benifolt hasn’t found a way to improve the glasses just yet. We put a stop gap together.” She held out her wrist, where there was another straining enchantment. “But it isn’t working that well either. Like two bandaids on a wound that needs stitches.”

Considering how she was my mate, I didn’t love that analogy.

“Sorry. But I don’t mind if your succubus nature is out.” I failed to see the issue.

Her eyes changed again as she looked at me. “I care. Keeping my succubus nature down has helped me focus on learning magic.  I… I don’t want to be like the rest of my people. They are fairly single minded.” She blushed and looked away as her succubus nature continued to pull forward on her.

I came around behind her. “You will always be you. So what if you have an overwhelming edge of sexy to you? Have you seen the nymphs? I can guarantee you, the fae feel things stronger than humans, and they still manage to do more than just have sex.”

Sabrina didn’t resist my hug, burying herself deeper into my arms. “I wish I had your confidence.”

“I’d give it to you if I could.” Kissing the top of her head, I tried to do just that, though I knew it wouldn’t work. Rather, I distracted her while also distracting myself. “So, what do the enchantments do?” I glanced around the superyacht guessing magic was all over it if I knew the Scalewrights.

“Lots.” She looked around not just at the wall but over the whole boat. “There’s a web of protection enchantments, like a thousand links on a chain. Crude, and it takes up a lot of space, but effective for something this large. This boat could probably ram a breakwater and the breakwater would suffer. Then there are several enchantments on this wall and the top half of the boat to magically make it float should it ever start to sink.” She waved at the wall and I shifted my eyes to see the enchantments in detail.

The whole boat was blanketed in them.

“What’s on the deck?” I asked, noticing another enchantment.

“Let’s see if you can figure it out.” Sabrina bent down to look at one of them. “What’s this for?” She pointed to a specific part of the enchantment.

“Heat, no, cold? Wait. Temperature regulation.” I picked apart the element of the enchantment she was pointing to. It took me a moment and I got a better picture of it as I realized it. “So then, this larger element has several pathways to dictate how that one works. Mostly sensors to keep the deck warm, but not hot.” I was able to figure it all out after Sabrina pointed out the key piece.

“Exactly. Well done, Mr. Pendragon. It seems I haven’t failed as your magic teacher.” Sabrina beamed at me.

I scratched the back of my head. “Some of it is starting to come together. It’s nowhere near what my father’s done though.” I thought back to him weaving enchantments to face Iapetus.

Sabrina grunted. “I’ve been working on that crystal with your father. If you put that thing in the middle of the magi, they would all grow old and die before they understood it all. Your father has had multiple dragon lifetimes to perfect his enchanting.” She shook her head. “You shouldn’t compare yourself to him. It’s not fair.”

“Now what about this one?” She pointed to the one on the wall that she’d been investigating.

Before I got the chance to decipher it, Morgana blurred around the corner, wearing her amulet so she didn’t stand out with her blue skin. “Get ready. We spotted it.”

“Later. Thank you for the lesson. Stay safe, Sabrina.” I patted her shoulder and jogged to the front of the boat. My eyes were still shifted and I scanned the waters for the boat.

I had looked at the picture enough that I didn’t need to check to confirm it when I saw it. “That’s it.” The predator in me snapped into focus. My eyes tracked the surface of the boat for anyone, but there was no one visible and the captain's deck was too tinted for me to see clearly.

Jadelyn came up to my side with Poly, Regina and Morgana. “We are ready with more standing by.” Jadelyn updated me. “Four shouldn’t be too bad for me to swim with.”

“If Dragonbane is in play, let me handle it.” Morgana cocked her hip, the lovely black bikini had extra fabric on the side to make it look like it was barely tied on. Just a single pull would release it. “Maybe we are distracting him too much.” She saw me watching her.

I grunted. “No. Let’s go. Jadelyn, stay in the water when we get there. We’ll need you if any of us go overboard. Girls, if you need, just shove people off the boat.”

Jadelyn perked up. “Yes. Do that. I can handle them.”

We went to the back of the boat as Jadelyn motioned up to the captain and chopped across her throat.

A moment later, the engines died down and we started drifting.

“Last one in is a rotten egg.” Jadelyn leapt off the side in a graceful dive.

The water was only clear for a few feet.

My wife disappeared instantly, and I waited for a second before she popped back up, her ears turning into fin-like structures and scales dotting her face before she dipped back under.

I took a heavy breath and jumped in with the rest of the group. The water wasn’t bad, but the lack of vision was disconcerting.

Jadelyn’s face came through the murkiness and she smiled at me, giving me an oxygen filled kiss before she grabbed my hand and flit through the water. She brought me around as she gathered the group entering the water into a chain, squeezing my hand before jetting off. It felt like I had just strapped myself to a torpedo.

Jadelyn shot through the water for just a minute before she slowed and I checked to make sure the rest of our group had managed to hang on. Luckily, we were dragons and our grips weren’t that feeble.

Jadelyn sang a few notes before she kissed me and pointed up at the boat above us, swimming slower towards the back.

I patted her shoulder and pushed myself up first.

My head broke the surface and checked the boat. We still hadn’t spotted anybody.

Jadelyn came up after a moment. “See? Easy peasy. Now get up on the boat and do what you need.”

I pulled the rest of them up to join me. The boat was anchored, but it was bobbing enough that I had to get my legs under me to help steady the others joining me.

It wasn’t nearly as large as Jadelyn’s yacht, but with three decks, it still drew people’s attention.

As soon as we were on board, Jadelyn dove back under the water, and I felt bad for anyone that fell overboard.

Poly, Regina, Morgana, and I made an interesting sight as we walked along the smaller yacht. A pair of sliding glass doors opened in front of us, and two men jumped to their feet. Grey smoke bled from their eyes.

I rushed forward, but a piece of railing speared itself into one man’s throat, and the other man’s neck sprayed red as Regina and Morgana moved faster than me.

Morgana flicked the blood off her sword. “We move quickly and quietly.” She whispered.

Goldie became a short sword in my hand. I nodded at Morgana, while Poly and Regina ripped off more handrails.

We moved forward. In the close quarters, I wanted to be able to use my brute strength to deal with anything, but the walls were too close to swing. I’d just have to stab anyone I met.

Morgana glanced at the sword before frowning at me and moving forward quickly. She didn’t exactly approve of my ability to be quiet.

The yacht was richly decorated with reds and golds. I had to wonder how FBI agents could afford the luxury boat.

Morgana opened the next door and blurred through.

Two men grunted as blood splashed on the table they’d been sitting around.

I paused in the doorway to the room as the door to the bathroom opened.

For a brief moment, we were both stunned before the man opened his mouth and yelled as he slammed the door closed.

My short sword tore a chunk out of the door as I brought it around and stabbed through it, thrusting my hand through the door and making a complete racket. I tore the door off its hinges and ran my sword through the man, pinning him above the toilet.

“You would make a terrible hunter.” Regina blinked and looked at the mess and noise I had made.

“I’m a city boy. We don’t hunt.” I used my foot to pry the door and the body off my sword.

“Shows.” Regina snorted and stepped around me to grab a gun off the man in the bathroom.

Morgana pulled a SMG out of her bra, and Polydora picked up a shotgun from the room Morgana just cleared.

“No use in being quiet now.” Poly checked her gun.

Morgana worked over the SMG. “It was always destined to fail with him, but that’s half the fun.” She just looked happy to cause some mayhem.