“Oh, my God,” she whispered.
The egg thrashed about, and pieces of shell fell away from the baby’s head. With her free hand, Emma cleared shell away from its face.
Neona pulled Zoltan back behind the stone wall. “We can’t risk the baby seeing us.”
He waited, then heard a tearful whimper come from Emma.
“I can hear him crying.” She sniffed. “He’s a boy. A beautiful boy.”
Neona exhaled with relief and smiled. “They’re bonding. Thank God.”
Zoltan peeked into the room. Emma was clearing away the last of the shell from a baby boy. His arms and legs were flailing about, but his eyes were entirely focused on her. She smiled at him, tears running down her cheeks.
A leg burst from the second shell.
“Your twin is coming,” Emma whispered.
When a fisted hand broke free, she took hold of it. The egg shook violently, and the head appeared.
Zoltan stepped back behind the stone wall and waited.
Emma laughed. “I have a baby girl.”
Neona’s pet leopard ran up to her and Zoltan.
“Zhan.” Neona patted his head. “Good kitty. Thank you for watching over the children.”
He rubbed against her leg, then looked at Zoltan. The queen has arrived. They’re trying to call you.
Thanks. “I’ll be right back.” He teleported to the cave entrance. His phone buzzed, and he answered it.
“I have Nima with me,” Mikhail said. “I’ve been trying to convince her that she’ll get home faster if I teleport her. Keep talking.”
“Okay. I’m here at the cave entrance,” Zoltan told Mikhail. “Waiting for you . . .”
Mikhail appeared with Nima, and she immediately ran into the cave. When Zoltan and Mikhail followed her, she turned around and glared at them. “Men are not allowed here. Go!”
Mikhail snorted, then vanished.
Zoltan followed her as she dashed down the narrow corridor into the larger cavern. Tashi was there, minding the children. Zhan was lounging on a pallet, letting Norjee and Xiao Fang pet him.
“The babies are fine,” Zoltan told the queen.
She spun around to face him. “They hatched? With no one there to bond with them?”
“Emma did it.”
“What? A vampire bonded with my dragons!” Nima drew her sword. “You let a monster steal my babies? I should kill you all. You are destroying our world!”
“Enough!” Neona ran into the large cavern. “Put away the sword, Mother.” She tilted her head toward the children, who had huddled together with frightened expressions. “Don’t do this here.”
Glaring at Zoltan, Nima sheathed her sword.
“Don’t blame the vampires,” Tashi said as she hugged the two younger children. “Freddie had to leave early because I was sick. There was only a short time when both you and Freddie were gone.”
“Enough time for those monsters to steal our babies,” Nima hissed.
“Emma saved the babies.” Neona motioned toward the egg room. “Come and see.”
Zoltan followed Nima and Neona down the narrow tunnel into the egg room.
Emma had transferred the babies to a clean nest. “Shouldn’t I bathe them? And put nappies on them? What do you feed them?”
Nima scoffed. “Do you think we’ll let you take our dragon babies away?”
Emma looked up at her. “I’ll do whatever I have to do. I’m their mother now.”
Nima huffed. “How can you possibly care for them? You’re dead half the time.”
“I’ll help you,” Neona offered. “The babies like goat milk. We have a few goats here in the valley. I’ll go milk them.”
“Thank you.” Emma suddenly stiffened and looked back at her babies. “What’s wrong? I can hear them crying!”
Everyone crowded around.
“They can’t breathe!” Emma shouted. “Oh, God, they’re turning blue.”
Neona reached for one. “Maybe I can—”
“No!” Nima yanked her back. “This is what happened to Xiao Fang’s sister. When Calliope tried to help her, they both died.”
Neona grimaced. “We can’t just let them die.”
Emma gasped. “I have to save them.”
“There is nothing we can do,” Nima cried. “Oh, God, we’re going to lose them both!”
“No!” Emma picked up one baby, then struggled to pick up the other. Zoltan leaned over to help her.
“I’ll take them to a doctor.” Emma stood. “Leah knows how to treat shifters.”
“You cannot remove the dragons from their home!” Nima shouted.
“Watch me.” Emma vanished, taking both babies with her.
Nima huffed. “She dares to steal them from us! Where is she taking them?”
“To Tiger Town,” Zoltan explained. “That’s where Leah is. She’s a brilliant doctor and geneticist. She can figure out what’s going wrong.” He eyed the five nests. Only two remained with eggs. “I would guess it’s a case of too much inbreeding.”
Neona nodded. “We’ve been worried about that, but I don’t know what can be done. These are the only dragons left in the world.”
“Maybe Leah can come up with something. We have a number of excellent scientists on our side. They’ll try their best to help.”
Neona smiled and linked her arm with his. “Thank you.”
“You’re thanking him?” Nima scoffed. “These vampires are ruining everything.” With a huff, she marched away. “I’m going to my house. I don’t wish to be disturbed.”
He watched the queen go, then muttered, “How will we survive the rest of the night without her?”
Neona gave him a wry look.
“Alone at last.” He wrapped his arms around her. “Thank you. Thank you for believing in me. And my friends.”
She leaned her head against his shoulder. “Thank you for helping us.”
He led her into the larger cavern. “I need to tell Angus what happened.”
Neona nodded. “I’ll stay here with Tashi and try to get the children to sleep.” She yawned. “It has been a long night for all of us.”
Zoltan teleported to the next valley. All the teams had returned. Lydia was climbing the rope ladder by the rock wall to return home. Freddie and Freya were walking slowly toward the rock wall, accompanied by J.L. and Rajiv.
“We’re done for the night,” Angus announced proudly. “A total of one hundred and fifty-three soldiers taken.”
“Fantastic.” Zoltan smiled. Lord Liao would have less than fifty soldiers left. “Liao must be livid.”
“Aye.” Angus grinned. “So how is Emma? I heard she went to the next valley. Something about eggs hatching.”
Zoltan rested a hand on Angus’s shoulder. “I have news for you.”
Angus’s smile faded. “Is Emma all right?”
“She’s well. Did you know she can communicate with the dragon children?”
“Aye. What has happened, man? Tell me.”
“The babies hatched and bonded with Emma. They believe she is their mother.”
Angus blinked. “They . . . adopted Emma?”
“Yes. And she adopted them. A boy and a girl.”
Angus blinked again. “We have . . . bairns?”
Zoltan nodded. “But they took ill suddenly. They couldn’t breathe. Emma teleported them to Tiger Town.”
“Bloody hell,” Angus whispered. “The bairns canna breathe?” He shook himself. “I have to go. Tell Robby he’s in charge.” He vanished.
Zoltan walked over to Robby MacKay to break the news that the MacKay family now included two dragon shifter babies. While everyone was drinking a toast to the new parents, Zoltan teleported back to Neona’s house.
She was there, naked and washing herself from a bowl of water.
“Wow,” he breathed as she gathered her hair up and wiped the back of her neck with a washcloth.
She spun around to face him. “You’re back.”
“Just in time.” He grabbed a bottle of spiked blood and guzzled it down.
With a smile, she watched him drink. “I wonder if your seed is reviving itself.”
“There’s only one way to find out.” His gaze drifted over her sweet body, then settled on the bandage on her arm. “How are you feeling? Are you in pain?”