19. Chapter 19
Chapter 19
Truth and Venom
Aubrey
You know those moments when you wake up with a killer hangover and can’t remember how you got home? This is definitely not one of those times. For starters, I’m pretty sure my bedroom doesn’t have mood lighting courtesy of actual torches on brick walls. And unless my IKEA furniture recently got a serious upgrade, I’m definitely not sprawled across a massive golden divan that probably costs more than I make in a year.
Also? My head feels like it’s been stuffed with cotton candy and then run through a blender.
What in God’s name happened?
“Ah, finally awake. Humans are so fragile—I was beginning to worry I’d used too much venom.”
The voice is like silk wrapped around a dagger. I blink away the fog to find myself staring at possibly the most beautiful woman—no, naga—I’ve ever seen. Silver scales shimmer across her exposed skin like starlight, and her movements are pure liquid grace as she slithers closer.
Nalini. Sundar’s ex. Because apparently my day wasn’t complicated enough.
“Love what you’ve done with the place,” I rasp, pushing myself upright despite my spinning head. “Very ‘evil lair chic.’ The torches are a bit much though. Ever heard of LED bulbs?”
Her perfect lips curl into something between a smile and a sneer. “How fascinating. I can almost see why he’s drawn to you. Such… spirit, even in the face of certain doom.”
“Doom? Really?” I manage to swing my legs over the divan’s edge, fighting waves of dizziness. “Did you get your villain dialogue from an 80s B-movie script?”
Her tail lashes, quick as lightning, stopping inches from my face. “You think this is a game, little girl? You have no idea what you’re involved in. What he is. What we are.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” I’m pretty sure it’s the venom making me this mouthy, but I can’t seem to stop. “I know he likes his tea with exactly two sugar cubes. I know his tail gets twitchy when he’s trying not to laugh at my jokes. I know he pretends to hate reality TV but has definitely gotten invested in The Great British Bake Off.”
Nalini’s beautiful face twists with disgust. “You speak of trivialities. He is a guardian of ancient power, a keeper of sacred traditions. And you… You’re nothing but a temporary distraction. A pet he’ll tire of once the novelty wears off.”
The words hit harder than they should, especially after Sundar’s recent distance. That familiar doubt creeps in—the same voice that whispered I wasn’t good enough for Derek.
“He’s been quite distant lately, hasn’t he?” Nalini’s voice drips with false sympathy. “Pulling away? Making excuses? That’s how it starts, you poor thing. I should know.”
I hate how my throat tightens. Because she’s right—something has been off.
“He’s researching something,” I say, though I’m not even sure why I’m trying to convince her. “About my bracelet.”
Nalini laughs, the sound like breaking glass. “Oh, precious. Is that what he told you? And you believed him?” Her tail slides closer, silver scales catching the torchlight. “Did you really think you were special? That you could hold the interest of someone like Sundar? He’s lived centuries, guarded ancient powers, and touched divine magic. And you can barely handle such small human affairs without failing.”
I want to argue, but what if she’s right? What if…
No.
Something clicks in my head.
This feels exactly like Derek. The way he’d twist everything around until I doubted myself. Until I felt small. Until I believed I was lucky he even looked at me.
But Sundar… Sundar isn’t Derek. I know that, somewhere deep down.
“You know what’s funny?” I push myself fully upright, ignoring how the room spins. “For someone who claims to know him so well, you really don’t get Sundar at all.”
Nalini’s eyebrow ridges arch. “Oh?”
“Yeah. Because the Sundar I know? He doesn’t care about ancient powers or divine magic nearly as much as he cares about helping Mrs. Chen’s grandson price his baseball cards fairly. Or making sure to inform Mrs. Brindlewood that her ‘definitely magical’ teacups are actually from Target.”
My voice grows stronger with each word. “He’s not some untouchable guardian anymore. He’s someone who makes me feel safe and seen and worthy, even when I’m being completely ridiculous. And maybe that’s not enough for some scaly snob like you, but it’s everything to me.”
Nalini’s beautiful face contorts into something ugly. “You dare—”
“Yeah, I dare. Because I trust him. And nothing you say will change that.”
Her tail whips through the air with a crack that echoes off the stone walls. “Then you’re even more foolish than I thought. If he truly cared, why hasn’t he noticed you’re missing? Why hasn’t your precious protector come to save you?”
“Because,” a deep voice rumbles from the shadows, “I was waiting to hear exactly how much poison you’d try to spread.”
Sundar emerges from the darkness like something straight out of my most dangerous dreams—hood fully flared, golden eyes blazing, every scale gleaming with barely contained fury. His tail moves with lethal grace as he positions himself between me and Nalini.
“Ah, there you are,” Nalini says nonchalantly, though I notice she’s shifted into a defensive stance. “Come to collect your pet?”
“I’ve come,” Sundar’s voice drops to a register that makes my toes curl despite our dire situation, “to end this pathetic attempt at manipulation. Though I must thank you, Nalini. Your little performance has proven something rather important.”
“Oh?” Her silver tail coils tighter. “And what’s that?”
“That Aubrey understands me far better than you ever did. You speak of ancient power and divine duty, yet you’ve never grasped what true strength is.”
Nalini’s laugh turns bitter. “True strength? Look at her—she can barely stand! She’s weak, mortal, temporary. Everything we’re meant to rise above.”
“And yet,” Sundar’s words carry centuries of quiet certainty, “she’s shown more courage in the last five minutes than you have in all your years. Tell me, Nalini, when was the last time you loved anything more than your own power?”
That hits something raw. Nalini’s entire body coils like a spring. “You dare lecture me about love? You, who’ve grown so soft you let a human girl make you forget everything you are?”
“No.” Sundar’s tail curls closer to me. “She reminded me of everything I could be.”
The tension in the air crackles like electricity before a storm. I try to stand, but the room tilts dangerously. Whatever was in that venom is still making everything fuzzy around the edges.
Then several things happen at once.
Nalini strikes toward me with terrifying speed, her silver form becoming a blur of scales and deadly intent. But Sundar moves just as fast, his larger body intercepting her attack with a crash that shakes dust from the old ceiling. Their tails whip and coil around each other, golden eyes meeting silver in mutual hatred.
I scramble back as they battle across the chamber, trying to keep my feet under me despite the lingering effects of the venom. It’s like watching two forces of nature collide—beautiful and terrifying in equal measure.
Sundar’s powerful tail sends Nalini flying into a pillar, but she recovers instantly, her own tail lashing out with precise strikes that would shatter bones if they connected.
“Look at what you’ve become,” Nalini’s voice drips with genuine disgust. “Playing shopkeeper, collecting trinkets, pretending to be something you’re not. We were meant to be above their petty world, Sundar. To guard greater powers than their tiny minds could comprehend.”
“And that’s precisely why you failed as a guardian.” Sundar’s tail deflects another strike. “You never understood that the things we were protecting were meant to serve, not separate.”
Their bodies twist and coil, scales flashing black and silver in the torchlight. But I can see Sundar’s winning—his larger size and raw power slowly overwhelming Nalini’s speed and precision.
Her eyes lock onto me and disgust twists into cold purpose. “Then let me remind you exactly what serving humans brings.”
She launches herself toward me, fangs extended, venom dripping—
“Aubrey!” Sundar’s voice cracks through the air like thunder. “The bracelet!”Something golden arcs through the air toward me. My grandmother’s bracelet—the one that started this whole mess. Pure instinct makes me catch it, slip it onto my wrist, then…
The moment the bracelet touches my skin, the world explodes in golden light. Nalini’s fangs are inches from my throat when they hit what feels like a wall of pure energy, shattering with a crack. She jerks back with an inhuman screech, blood dripping from her ruined mouth.
But the light doesn’t stop. It spreads through the chamber, and wherever it touches Nalini, her perfect silver scales start flaking away like peeling paint.
She writhes, her tail thrashing against the stone floor as more and more of her starts to… dissolve? Decay? Whatever’s happening, it’s clearly excruciating, and for the first time since I woke up in this creepy lair, real fear crosses her face.
“What’s happening to me?” she gasps, trying to slither away from the light that seems drawn to her like a heat-seeking missile.
“The Bracelet of the Devoted,” Sundar says, and holy shit, I’ve never heard him sound so satisfied. “Its magic activates only in the presence of true love, creating an unbreakable shield that doesn’t just protect—it destroys any threat to that bond.” He rises to his full height as Nalini shrinks back. “The longer you stay, the more of your ancient form it will unmake. I suggest you leave, Nalini. Now, and never bother us again if you wish to remain in one piece.”
Nalini looks at me, then at Sundar, then at her rapidly deteriorating body. The hatred in her eyes could melt steel, but even she can’t argue with whatever power is literally making her come apart at the seams. With a final hiss of fury, she retreats into the darkness and escapes the building, moving like someone who knows they’ll die if they don’t.
The moment Nalini vanishes, Sundar’s entire demeanor changes. His hood relaxes, and suddenly I’m wrapped in fifteen feet of worried snake man, his tail coiling around me so thoroughly I can barely tell where he ends and I begin.
“Are you hurt? The venom—how much did she use? I should have been faster, should have known she’d—”
“Hey.” I touch his face, loving how he immediately leans into my palm. “I’m okay. Little woozy, like that time Maggie convinced me to try absinthe, but I’m fine. Although…” I try to look stern, which is hard when you’re basically a human burrito wrapped in concerned naga. “We need to talk about this whole bracelet situation. And why you’ve been acting weird. And maybe about how my jewelry apparently has superpowers?”
His tail tightens slightly. “I… may have been less than forthcoming.”
“You don’t say.”
“The bracelet—Marcus Blackhorn’s research revealed its true nature. It’s meant to activate when true love exists between its bearer and their chosen mate. I’ve spent days watching it remain dormant, terrified it meant…”
“That what we have isn’t real?” I actually laugh, which makes him blink those gorgeous golden eyes in confusion. “Sundar, you gorgeous disaster. Did it occur to you that maybe it needed to actually be on my wrist to work?”
He opens his mouth. Closes it. His tail does that adorable twitchy thing that means he’s processing something obvious he completely missed.
“I… may have overcomplicated things.”
“You think?” But I’m grinning as I say it, because this brilliant, powerful, occasionally ridiculous creature is mine. “Also, can we talk about how you went full sexy action hero back there? Because watching you fight was kind of incredibly hot.”
His pupils dilate, and suddenly the way his tail is wrapped around me feels less protective and more… interesting. “Was it now?”
“Yes. Very impressive. All that coiling and striking and—mph!”
He cuts me off with a kiss, one hand tangling in my hair while his tail keeps me pressed against him. When we finally break apart, we’re both breathing hard.
“I love you,” he says against my lips, his voice rough with emotion. “Even before the bracelet proved it. Even if it had never activated. I love everything about you, Aubrey Garrett, from your ridiculous filing systems to your habit of singing off-key while dusting.”
“I do not sing off-key,” I protest weakly, but my heart is doing backflips. “Also? I love you too. Even when you’re being a cryptic snake about magical jewelry. Even when you get grumpy about me feeding the alley cat. Even when—”
This time when he kisses me, there’s nothing gentle about it. His tail shifts, wrapping around my thighs in a way that makes me gasp against his mouth.
“Perhaps,” he murmurs between kisses that are getting progressively more heated, “we should continue this discussion somewhere less… dungeon-like?”
“Good point. Although…” I can’t resist teasing him, even as his tail does something between my legs that makes thinking increasingly difficult. “Your apartment is pretty dungeon-like too. All those weird artifacts and—oh!”
He literally sweeps me off my feet, cradling me against his chest as we head for the exit. “Keep talking, my love. See where it gets you.”
I grin up at him, feeling the bracelet warm against my skin. “Is that a threat or a promise?”
His answering smile shows just a hint of fang. “Why don’t we find out?”
The bracelet pulses with golden light as we leave the underground chamber, and I swear I can feel it humming with satisfaction. Guess true love really does conquer all—even ancient naga drama queens and their evil lairs.
Though honestly? I’m more interested in conquering a certain naga myself. Especially if he keeps doing that thing with his tail…