Chapter 20
Chapter
Twenty
Be aware: you’re already in his net.
–An Incomplete Guide to Kraken Survival
Istood reeling from Sebastian’s kiss, his revelations, and the coming battles.
My mission was clear: find a way to kill Jokull without sacrificing Sebastian and our romance.
Give me everything, or give me. No other path was acceptable.
Soley entered the chamber, chipper, carrying a tray of food she placed on the desk.
I drew in the savory scents of a traditional dragon breakfast. Thick slabs of seared meat glazed in a honeyed chili sauce, eggs whipped with herbs and molten cheese, and a stack of flatbread still steaming, brushed with butter and crushed peppers.
A small bowl of roasted figs and citrus sat beside a carafe of dark, spiced tea that smelled faintly of clove and smoke.
My mouth watered. Though part of me, most of me, wanted to soak in my conversation with Sebastian, running through everything that was said, I went another route: focusing on the here and now and recharging. A well-fed brain was a good friend to have when trying to solve a life-changing mystery.
I bounded over and motioned to Soley. “Come, eat with me.”
Her lips formed a large O. “You and me? Together?”
“Ja. Please.”
Appearing dazed, she joined me. As we ate, she regaled me with tales of the splash I’d made at the ball. And I admit, my ego gobbled up the praise like candy.
“Do I have anything suitable for traipsing about caves?” I asked when we finished. The place must be special to Sebastian. I loved an open sky, but I also loved a good hideaway tucked beneath a mountain. The perfect spot to hoard treasures.
“You have something suitable for every occasion, my lady.” She dabbed a napkin over her mouth. “The king made sure of it.”
The kraken king was so into me. Except that was precisely our problem, wasn’t it?
I sighed and changed into one of Sebastian’s shirts, pleased to find the material saturated with his scent. After tying the shirttails into a knot, I paired it with leather pants in my size and much-appreciated combat boots.
Gunnar escorted me to the palace foyer, where Sebastian waited in a T-shirt and jeans, the most casual I’d ever seen him. He displayed no emotion, which was a vivid display of his strain.
My nerves buzzed with instant awareness as I approached him, attuned to his every nuance.
His irises never ceased roiling, waves crashing through them as he shoved sunglasses over his eyes. He held out his hand to a guard and received a second pair; he then slid them down my nose.
“You ready?” He snatched my hand and drew me outside before I could answer.
A motorcycle waited for us. Matte black and low-slung, all sharp lines and coiled power, its engine exposed like a beating heart. There was no ornamentation. No excess. Just speed and muscle and menace waiting to be unleashed.
“I’ve never ridden one,” I admitted, intrigued.
“Then we are both in for a treat.” He mounted first.
I perched behind him, arms wrapped around his chest. Seconds later, we were soaring along the road. The roar of the engine couldn’t drown out my squeals of delight. The hazard didn’t frighten me. Only the thought of losing him did.
When Sebastian realized I enjoyed sharp corners, he took them faster. Mile after mile disappeared behind us. And as the world blurred, as I clung to the man who had won my devotion, I pulled the trigger and made my decision. I wanted him, and I would not be leaving after convergence.
I was willing to bet our forever on a solution I hadn’t found yet. The alternative—losing him—was intolerable.
All too soon, we reached our destination.
A cave yawned at the base of a jagged cliff, its mouth wide and black, breathing out mist as if the earth itself exhaled.
Pale runes scarred the surrounding stone, half-buried below moss and time.
The air tasted metallic and charged, humming faintly beneath my skin.
My immortal senses flared, hunting for threats. Ears twitching. Blood simmering, ready to ignite. “What is this place?”
Layer by shedded layer, his expression grew unguarded. “This is where the realm and I became one. My rune pulls me through a door only I can enter, in and out in seconds. No one and nothing can cross its borders without my permission. You now have my permission.”
The honor of it stole my breath. Warmth filled my chest as I slipped my hand into his.
He dragged his fingers along my jaw and smiled. “Come.” With a reassuring squeeze, he led me forward into the cave.
I expected an abyss, but discovered paradise. Obsidian walls veined with glowing sapphire liquid stretched before me, alive and luminous. Above us, diamonds clustered across the high, rocky ceiling, scattering light like a frozen constellation.
“It’s brighter than usual.” A small frown creased his brow. “But I sense no threat.”
The light pulsed once, as if it had heard him. As though something in the stone had been waiting a very long time and had just now sat up. The convergence. What else could it be?
He motioned to the walls. “Here, I’m able to monitor the entire kingdom. Beyond it, even.”
“Show me… the palace,” I asked.
Sebastian turned toward the stone. The glow beneath its surface shifted, colors streaming together like currents caught beneath ice. Then the rock cleared.
I sucked in a breath.
The palace appeared before me in perfect detail, its walls towering high, tiny figures moving along the illuminated paths.
“It’s like some kind of fairy-tale magic mirror.” Only better.
He tightened his grip. “This next part is trickier. Even with the door sealed, I take no chances.”
We navigated a series of twisting, winding corridors. Sometimes we crawled. Others, we climbed. Many of those corridors were littered with snares Sebastian helped me avoid. Poisonous rocks. Hidden trap doors. Finally, we reached the cave’s spacious heart.
The walls were no longer veined but fully azure and as bright as the sun. I spun, marveling, taking it all in. Furniture. A soft bed and a comfortable couch. Even a bathroom with a stone shower.
All wonderful. But those glowing walls. That light. His connection. “This is why your blood is blue,” I said, amazed. One day I would dance here. Twirl through the sparkle for Sebastian alone.
“Correct. My blood is the dome, and the dome is my blood.”
Oooh. “Its beauty is overwhelming.”
“I prefer yours,” he said matter-of-fact.
Preening, I traced my palms up his chest. “I see you brought your charm with you.”
“I cannot leave home without it.” He pulled me to a wall and pressed my back against the stone, towering before me.
“Now listen up, Brona. You said you own my heart. Very well. But you will give me yours, too.” By the end, he was practically growling.
“I want our bond made visible. For you to wear my mark. Today. Now.”
My pulse leaped. “You want… to marry me?”
“I do. I can. I will. I submitted my change of vote to the royals this morning.”
“Sebastian,” I rasped, affection for him swelling to new heights.
He’d done that, not as a bargaining chip or payment; I hadn’t entirely met my part of our bargain yet.
He’d simply... done it and mentioned it the way someone else might mention a dinner reservation, because it wasn’t the prize to him. It was the paperwork.
Inter-faction marriages. Exactly what I’d come here to win, and I could hardly bring myself to care. He was standing in front of me, offering something I wanted more than I’d ever wanted anything. Recognition as his chosen.
He cupped my face. “Whether you are here, or elsewhere, the mark will announce to all that you are mine. My queen. My firebrand. Any harm done to you is done to me, and there will be devastating consequences.”
Longing nearly choked me.
“Your blood could turn blue, like mine,” he continued. “If it does, you’ll be tied to the dome. This will be your home.”
“Your greatest prize,” I said, a lump in my throat. His entire kingdom. His family.
“Nei. I prize you most.” He grazed his thumbs over my cheeks. “You’ll have kraken armies devoted to your protection for the rest of your life.” His expression darkened. “But once the mark is given, it can’t be returned, no matter what happens at convergence. Know that.”
The warning should have frightened me. If we didn’t find another way to kill Jokull, and the rune claimed Sebastian’s heart, I’d be bonded to a man with no emotions.
Gaze fierce on me, he asked, “Do you still wish to proceed, Brona?”
Sebastian was worth any risk.
I jutted my chin. “Ja. I want this. I want us.”
The walls pulsed again, harder, faster, as if trying to find a new heartbeat after outgrowing the first.
He smiled slowly. “Then that is what I shall give you.”
With his gaze hot on mine, he withdrew a dagger and cut a line across his palm. Not even a flinch. Then he handed the hilt to me. Taking a deep breath, I cut a slash against my own palm.
Blood welled. His blue. Mine red.
Then we clasped hands, the contact wrenched a gasp from me. The burn. It hurt at first, but then… then it was good. So, so, so good.
His power surged into me, an undertow beneath my fire. It crashed through me like waves as sweat beaded along his forehead.
My inhalations turned shallow, strength and weakness flowing into me in opposing currents. I didn’t fight it. Whatever he needed, I gladly gave. Whatever he gave, I eagerly received.
With my next inhale, I felt him. In my head.
In my blood. My bones. I sensed him, as if an invisible rope tethered us together.
I knew what weighed on him. The worry threaded through his resolve.
But I also basked in his desire for me. A frothing, churning tide with depths I could explore for centuries without ever reaching the bottom.
My dragon roared, smokewings flapping.
His kraken made no sound, but it writhed, wrapping its tentacles around the dragon. Not in battle but need. Two puzzle pieces together at last. Then there was only Sebastian and me, and the light, and our clutched hands.
“You are mine,” he rasped so sharply I felt his possessiveness in every cell of my body. Felt it burrow deeper as he dragged his hand from my grasp and flattened his palm against my chest, as if he needed to feel my heart beat.
My skin heated under and around his hand, and we both went still.
He canted his head, as though trying to work through a mystery. “You are branding my print into you?”
“My dragon,” I rasped. My dragon was accepting his claim and ensuring there was a visual mark.
Wonder filled his eyes. “My queen. Now. Always.”
“My king.” Throwing my arms around him, I demanded, “Kiss me.”