“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?”
