Chapter 11
koa
. . .
Nerves racked through me as I walked along the shore of Vleyis Abyss with Rune at my side, the two of us barefoot in the warm sand.
The beach here differed from the postcard-perfect spreads they used for tourism posters for Dragon’s Resort to the northeast. The sand was a light beige color, glittering with tiny flecks of crystal that caught the sunlight and shone with faint rainbows.
The water rolled in a deep, clear blue. Northwest of where we were, the treeline of Fae’s Blessing rose in a wall of pinks.
We were closer to the less-populated area of the Apex Capital.
The air smelled of brine, magic, and blooming flowers.
A breeze tugged at my hair and carried mist against my bare chest.
“I can’t believe we’re actually on a date,” Rune giggled beside me. “I didn’t think we’d have time, to be honest.”
Her golden eyes were bright with excitement, sunlight sparking in them every time a wave rolled in.
Her green, wavy hair was pulled up into the two space buns she loved, tendrils escaping to curl around her pretty face.
She wore a simple tank top and shorts, legs bare, toes digging into the damp sand as we walked.
I’d gone to the beach in baggy shorts and no t-shirt. The sun felt good on my skin, and I admittedly liked the way her gaze flicked over my chest when she thought I wasn’t looking. The matebond hummed with her appreciation, and it did dangerous things to my ego.
“Ragnar was so upset he didn’t get to come,” I said, half-laughing, half-guilty. “He stared at me like I’d betrayed our sacred agreement of always bringing him to interesting places.”
Rune laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. “I don’t know how much your tortoise would like the beach anyway.”
I shrugged. “He has a serious fear of missing out. He’d sulk in the corner of my room for a week if he knew how pretty this place is.”
Her giggles softened into a warm smile. She looked out at the water, then back at me. “It is really nice to be with you. Especially with everything going on in the world. It’s nice to just breathe for a second. We haven’t had a day off in a month.”
“It is nice, isn’t it?” I exhaled, tension uncoiling from between my shoulders.
Being an agent, specifically being a healer, meant being on constant alert all the time. I knew what I signed up for, but the reality of it took some getting used to.
All of that faded, though, with her hand brushing mine, the endless sea stretched in front of us, and no current mission ticking in my brain.
We walked farther, waves flowing up just enough to kiss our ankles. Spray chilled my skin; the contrast made my phoenix fire hum under the surface.
Rune tipped her head, watching the foam curl around her toes.
“You want to go for a swim?” I asked, a grin tugging at my lips.
She shook her head. “I wasn’t planning on swimming.”
“How do you go to the beach and not swim?” I teased.
She snorted. “You’re silly.”
“You’re beautiful,” I countered, taking off toward the water at a run.
“Koa—!” she called, laughing.
Hearing her laugh was the most magnificent sound in the world to me.
Cold waves crashed around my calves, then my thighs.
I dove forward, arms cutting through the surface as the world muffled into the roar and rush of the sea.
Salt stung my eyes as bubbles streamed past my ears.
The water got colder, darker, the light above blurring as I went deeper in one smooth, practiced motion.
I never saw the shark.
One second, it was just water and sound and the distant sound of my heartbeat.
Then, a massive shadow surged out of the deep blue depths, and before I could twist away, my head slammed into rough, slick flesh and rows of serrated knives.
My scream turned into a choking gulp as the shark’s jaws snapped shut around me.
Pain exploded through me.
Rune’s voice echoed faintly through the water in what I thought was a distorted scream of my name.
The pressure was crushing, stealing away anything else. I hated that she felt my agony through the matebond. Muscle and darkness swallowed me. The raw terror of being dragged deeper beneath the surface overwhelmed me.
This was by far the worst death I’d experienced.
The shark’s throat convulsed, hauling me down. My shoulder scraped against jagged teeth; pain flared and vanished into the larger horror of no air as I was shoved into a space that felt so, so wrong.
I’d been swallowed into the belly of a shark.
I gasped, burning my lungs as stomach acid seared my skin, stinging over every exposed inch of me. Going shirtless became the dumbest idea I’d had in weeks.
The smell invading my nose was rancid and sharp, like rot and metal and something I was never supposed to smell.
My chest cavity screamed for pure oxygen, and my phoenix fire flickered under my skin, panicked as my magic flared weakly in response to the agony.
I clawed at the slick, pulsing walls on instinct, but there was nothing to grasp and nowhere to go. Heat, acid, and crushing pressure pressed in from every side. My lungs seized as my vision started to dull.
My first real date with my fated mate, and I was drowning and half-digested inside a shark.
Not exactly the romantic date I’d planned.
The last of my good air left me in a shattered exhale.
Everything went black as death claimed me, and then, my phoenix magic seared my soul back to the body it was about to create for me.
Phoenix death never got easier, no matter how many times I did it. It was always too bright, too hot, and too expansive. Fire burned outwards from the center of my soul, consuming whatever was left of my body.
I collapsed into ash before the flames erupted from inside the shark.
The shark’s body convulsed around me. Its flesh charred and bones seared as fire filled every inch of the beast from the inside.
The acid that had been burning my skin vaporized in an instant.
Heat ripped through muscle and organs and up the throat, bursting out in a pillar of incandescent gold and blue fire.
The shark’s shape split, obliterating it.
From the dead body of a shark in the deep water, I exploded upward as a phoenix—a burst of molten-gold feathers and searing heat, wings flaring wide as I shot out of the ocean in a roaring column of steam and flame.
The sky hit me like a blessing, and I pulled in all the air I could.
I climbed higher on instinct, wings beating hard, shedding droplets of boiling water. The sea below hissed where my fire had kissed the surface. Wind rushed through my feathers, ringing in my ears.
Through the bond, Rune’s shock, horror, and relief rushed at me in a tidal wave.
I angled my wings and dove back down toward her.
She stood at the water’s edge as I ascended, pretty golden eyes wide.
When I came close enough, I let the fire fade, my phoenix form collapsing in on itself mid-air.
I hit the sand in my regular body, but I was naked.
The matebond flooded with a messy tangle of emotions: lingering horror, shaky relief, and an amused disbelief.
Rune stared at me, eyes flicking down my body once, then again, catching on the one thing that hadn’t burned away.
The gold chain around my neck.
She giggled, the sound breaking on a breath that sounded like it might’ve been a sob. “Fates, Koa…” She stepped closer, lifted two fingers, and hooked them through the chain, pulling me toward her by the necklace. “How come you lose your clothes, but never the slutty golden chain?”
“It’s enchanted,” I told her, my voice faintly hoarse. “My dad gave it to me.”
“Oh,” she murmured. Her hand slid down from the chain to my chest, fingers tracing the lines of my abs, trailing heat in their wake, until she wrapped her hand around my cock.
It throbbed in her hand, and I hissed out a breath. “Rune, we’re in public.”
“Do you really care about that?” she teased, mischief sparking in her golden eyes.
A flush crawled up my neck. My self-control wobbled. “I—yes? Maybe? Sometimes?” I cleared my throat. “Also, I’m still technically recovering from being shark food.”
“So, it was a shark?” She laughed, finally letting me go, and stepped back toward the bag we’d dropped on drier sand earlier. “Relax, reboot. I came prepared.”
She dug into the bag and pulled out a folded pair of shorts and a T-shirt.
I blinked. “You packed extra clothes for me?”
“You always die, Koa,” she said, amusement dancing across her face. “I’d be a bad mate if I didn’t plan for that.”
I chuckled, taking the clothes from her and stepping into the shorts. “This is not exactly how I wanted to start our date,” I admitted, pulling the shirt over my head.
“Maybe not,” she giggled. “But it’s very on-brand for you. Now, do you want to make love to me in the sand or not?”
“I very much do,” I blurted, but both our phones chimed at the same time.
The sound was sharp and too familiar.
It was a mission alert.
I pulled mine from the bag. A notification glowed across the screen.
Jesper Wyvernheart
Report to Supernatural Council HQ. Urgent briefing. ASAP.
Rune’s screen showed the same message.
I let out a long sigh, tilting my head back toward the sky. “This is not how I wanted to end our date. I’d much rather end the date inside of you.”
Rune’s lips puckered into a small pout before she rose onto her toes and kissed me softly. The bond hummed with affection, reassurance, and a promise of desire to be had.
“We’ll go on another date. One where you don’t get eaten by a shark,” she said.
“Do we have to tell anyone about that part?” I asked, grimacing a little.
She cackled, eyes glittering. “I mean, maybe not?”
I groaned. “That’s a yes, isn’t it?”
She just laced her fingers through mine and tugged me gently toward the path leading back toward the wayfaer portal within Fae’s Blessings. “Come on, reboot. Duty calls.”
I glanced back once at the waves and the faint smoke still curling where I’d reincarnated inside of a damned shark.