Chapter Twenty-One #2
‘I see you remembered that lesson I gave you in the woods,’ he said, his voice low and teasing.
But Alina didn’t blush. She didn’t soften.
Instead, her expression twisted in frustration, and then she drove her knee hard into his stomach.
As he staggered, she slipped behind him like smoke through fingers, and a heartbeat later, he found himself the one slammed against the column.
Kai felt the cold kiss of a blade press against the nape of his neck.
‘Not bad,’ he muttered, allowing her the illusion that she had bested him. ‘But you forget something.’
The tip bit deeper into his skin in silent warning, sharp enough to sting but not to wound. Kai chuckled under his breath.
‘What?’ she snapped, breath quick with exertion.
‘I'm a wyverian,’ he whispered just before he twisted in a blur of motion, his speed unnatural, honed.
The dagger clattered across the stone floor, skittering out of reach.
In a heartbeat, he'd caught Alina by the waist and flipped her down onto the ground, pinning her beneath the weight of his body, his elbow poised at her throat.
‘Teach me,’ she breathed, unafraid.
‘I will,’ he replied. ‘I swear it.’
He rose and extended a hand, which she took without hesitation. But when she went to release him, he held on, his thumb stroking the centre of her palm with a tenderness that struck deep.
‘I thought you were dead, Alina,’ he said softly. ‘All this time, I’ve mourned you.’
‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered.
Kai shook his head, and before he could steel himself, tears welled behind his eyes. ‘Haven… I wasn’t there for her. I wasn’t there for you.’
‘That wasn’t your fault.’ She stepped closer and brushed his tears away, her fingers lingering at the edge of his jaw. Her gaze held his with fierce gentleness. ‘This, all of this, is on Hagan. And one day, I’m going to make him bleed for every sin carved into our skin.’
She cupped his face with both hands, and something inside him broke, some blackened piece of his heart that still knew how to ache.
‘You haven’t mentioned my horns,’ she said, voice barely a breath.
‘There’s nothing to say,’ he replied, leaning into her touch.
‘Except that I’m sorry. And when you’re ready to speak of it, I’ll sit beside you and listen.
Every word.’ He paused, his eyes dark and full of something tender.
‘You’re still as beautiful as I remember you.
You are still the fucking sunshine, Alina Acheron. ’
And when she smiled, tears shimmering in her own eyes, Kai stepped forward and cradled the back of her neck, drawing her in. His lips found hers, soft, aching, and then he folded her into his arms, holding her like she was the only warmth left in the world.
‘We should go to Mareena,’ Alina said, exhaling as though to steady herself. Yet her hands remained folded in Kai’s, reluctant to let go. ‘We all need to sit down and speak properly.’
Kai nodded, the corners of his lips curving in agreement.
But Alina stilled, her expression shadowed with thought. ‘Kai, I won’t be returning north just yet. There is a darkness festering in the south, one I must confront before I reclaim my kingdom and my crown.’
Kai lifted her knuckles to his mouth and kissed them, the gesture gentle, reverent. ‘Then I’ll help you vanquish this evil,’ he said with a quiet smile.
‘And your army?’ she asked.
Kai sighed. ‘I lost the honour of commanding them when I let Haven die. I am a disgrace to my people.’
‘Kai…’
A beat passed before he tilted his head, a note of mischief shining in his eyes. The sadness was quickly washed away. ‘Though I think Ash might have a few thoughts about you trying to steal his throne.’ He chuckled.
Alina froze. Her body tensed, her breath caught like glass in her lungs. ‘My brother is dead, Kai,’ she said flatly. ‘I doubt he has anything to say at all.’
Kai blinked. ‘Dead? No, Alina. Ash isn’t dead. He’s very much alive.’
The words dropped like stones between them.
He saw immediately the way her skin turned ashen, how still she became, as if time had been momentarily paused. Her wide eyes shimmered, not with tears, but with a disbelief so sharp it seemed to carve through the air itself.
‘Ash is alive?’ she breathed, as though the truth might slip through her fingers if she dared speak it too loudly.
‘Yes, Alina. He’s alive. Trapped in the wastelands with my army and the wolverians.’
He half-expected her to crumble, to fall into his arms or onto her knees under the weight of the revelation.
But she did no such thing. This Alina, the woman carved from fire and fury, not silk and song, merely nodded.
Her spine straightened, her chin lifted, and without another word, she turned and walked from the room.
Kai remained behind, rooted by the doors, watching her retreat. He observed the ghost of the woman he’d once known fade into the distance and wondered just how much of that girl still lingered within the warrior she had become.
He suspected that very little.