Chapter 13
Graz
I ’ve cut open my own heart and revealed it to her, and now it’s a matter of what she’ll do with it. Will she accept me, and decide she feels the same way? As she falls asleep in my arms, I don’t think I can possibly let her go.
We awake some time later, and my cock is rock hard pressed against her ass. Still, I manage to slip away, returning to the magic pool to summon us some more food. I bring a big platter of roast beef and sweet potatoes to the bed, and naked, we both eat as much as we can. Vienne lifts a cherry and puts it between my lips, then leans up to kiss me, biting off half of it as she does.
She is a sensual and romantic woman, I think. And perfect for me. But what comes next? What comes after this?
Maybe we should leave, Vienne suggests after we’ve cleaned up the food, and the bed has vanished. I still want to fuck her again, but I think that will occupy a good part of my mind for the rest of time.
Leave and go where? I ask. I still haven’t gotten my answer about how she feels, though I’ve bared my heart to her.
Vienne’s lips screw up. Well, get out of this cold cave, for starters. And then... She offers me a small smile. Figure out what comes next? I left everything behind to come here. I abandoned the King’s History Corps.
That sounds like it was a big deal for you.
She sighs. My life’s work. But... this was bigger than that. And now I have nothing to go back to.
I nod in understanding. She has her mother, but without her work, there isn’t much holding her down. Unfortunately, this world—as I’ve learned from seeing Lo’zar and Rimi struggle—isn’t kind to a match like ours.
Perhaps we should go to a neutral city. I’m perfectly happy abandoning my shop in Kalishagg if it means I could be with Vienne for the long haul. I can’t imagine giving her up now. We might be safe there.
She studies me as she sits on the edge of the pool. I join her there, slipping an arm around her waist to show her I plan to stay with her.
What about your life? she asks, tilting her head. You would just give that up for me?
Of course. I’d give up anything for you. I haven’t known her long, but I know this truth deep down. Anywhere my mate goes, I’ll go with her.
Vienne’s expression falters, as if these aren’t the words she expected to hear.
Oh. She looks down at her lap, her expression puzzled. Why do I feel like I’d do the same for you?
I grin. So I’m not the only one feeling it. Our life together plays in front of my mind’s eye—living in a neutral city together where we might be safe, filling her up with whelps, fucking every night and every morning again.
A hope I never could have possibly imagined blooms inside me. Perhaps I’ve found what Lo’zar found. I pull Vienne into my lap, burying my face in her hair to breathe in the perfect scent of her. I won’t forget that smell for as long as I live.
That’s the mate bond. I nuzzle her as I hold her close. How my best friend would laugh if he saw me now, after all the hassle I gave him.
Well then, Vienne says. I suppose we had better go and figure it out. She rises, then holds out a hand to me. I take it, dwarfing hers in mine. I’ll never get tired of how cute and small she is.
Once more, I pull her against me and kiss her deeply, and she squeaks before she returns it. Then it’s time to go and figure out what our life looks like from here.
When I’ve released her, we both dress, then Vienne kneels by the pool of glowing magic and scoops some out. She closes her eyes and spills it on the floor. Rather than dissipating, it slithers along the stone, until it starts to extend up into the air. Right in front of me, it forms a rather convincing wooden ladder.
She gestures with her chin. You first.
With a nod of agreement, I start to climb. I’m ready to get out of this cavern and see the light of day again.
* * *
Vienne
The moment Graz is out of sight, I crouch down, opening my water skin, and fill it from the glowing purple pool. Who knows when I’ll need it—or what I’ll need it for. Once I do what I came here to do, this will be all that’s left.
Then I scoop some more magic into my hand and make my intention clear.
“Dissolve into nothing,” I whisper to it, pouring it back into the stone basin that surrounds the base of the pedestal. “Become poison. Never let anyone else use what we’ve found here.”
The droplet hits the surface, and instantly, it turns black.
I turn around and head for the ladder, then scurry my way up as fast as I can. When I reach the top and peer down, I see the black droplet has already begun to spread, infecting the rest of the pool.
Graz’s eyes follow mine, and his brows shoot into his hair. What’s happening?
Just go , I tell him, kneeling to pull up the ladder behind us. Then I snatch my pack up off the floor, and toss the other to Graz. After slinging it on, he grabs the ladder and carries it with us.
What did you do? he demands again, setting the ladder against the wall. It’s just high enough that it will get us out of here.
I don’t answer as I hop onto the bottom rung. Then, all around us, the very rock rumbles.
Stones start falling from the ceiling. The black is spreading through the cavern itself now, and I hurry my climb as Graz gets onto the ladder behind me.
Go fast ! I bark at him, scrambling higher. The walls are rattling, bigger and bigger stones falling as the black magic works its way upward.
Fuck. I didn’t think it would destroy the whole damned place.
Finally I reach the top, and grab onto the ledge to pull myself up. Graz isn’t far behind me, but the ladder could go out from under him at any time.
Graz! I grab his outstretched hand and yank on him as hard as I can. The ladder gives way right as he hooks his other hand on the ledge, and I help him climb up onto it with me.
Then we meet the narrow stone hallway that led us in here in the first place. With the roof falling down, we need to get out—now.
Go! Go! I shove him forward and, without question, Graz obeys, sprinting into the darkness with his lamp held out. The roof is caving in, and a few small stones hit me in the head and shoulders as we run. I reel from the blows, but Graz reaches back and snatches up my hand in his before dragging me along behind him.
Finally, we emerge into the fresh air, bathed in morning sunlight. It’s morning? I completely lost track of time in there.
The rumbling is still audible, even out here.
We can’t stop , Graz says, panting. He pushes me toward the stairs leading down the cliffside, and I start running down them as fast as is safe. Now it’s as if the entire mountain itself is crumbling.
What did you do in there? he yells again as I nearly slip on the steps.
I did what had to be done.
But I wonder if I made the right choice.
* * *
Graz
I don’t know what she means, but I’m too busy trying to live to parse it out.
We make our way carefully down the steps, Vienne moving faster than I am, clearly more practiced with things like running down a staircase with no railing while the entire mountain comes apart next to you.
But what did she do back there? What could have caused this?
Then, the rock right under my feet cracks open.
Vienne picks up her pace, and I know we’re playing with our lives as we both sprint down the stone stairs. The cracks are spreading, and this must be how Lo’zar felt, trying to escape that ruin with his and his mate’s lives.
Not my favorite position to be in.
Finally, we’re near the bottom when the tip of the cliffside completely falls off the top. The rock under my feet breaks apart, and I leap forward, clearing three more steps and nearly falling onto Vienne. Instead, I grab her around the waist and pull her down on top of me as I skid on my back to the ground, hoping to cushion her fall.
Fuck, that hurts.
We have to keep going, Vienne says, panicked. She crawls to her feet and then takes off running again, her pack bouncing on her back.
I follow quickly behind her. Why? What are we running from?
She glances at me over her shoulder as another terrible cracking sound fills the air. I destroyed it .
I slow down my run. You what? I pause, then turn around to look up at the mountainside behind us. Sure enough, the rock has turned black as onyx.
No. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. You didn’t.
Then Vienne’s hand grabs mine. Run, you idiot!
Turning around, I take off after her as another huge chunk of rock tumbles to the ground, landing shockingly close to us—close enough that clods of dirt fly into the air and hit me in the face.
So we run, and run, until we’re enveloped in the woods and the mountain is far behind us. But my heart is blazing with fury. She’s betrayed me.
We found something marvelous, something priceless down there, and my mate has obliterated it.
I was wrong about her.