I exhale slowly. He has me trapped, and he knows it.
“If that is your wish, I swear it,” he says.
With trembling fingers, I reach for the ring. Keiren takes it and slides it onto my finger. The weight settles deep in my bones.
“I, Selene Anne Fairchild, take you, Keiren Drakovayne, to be my husband. I vow to be your wife, for better or worse,” I whisper. “I vow to stand by your side and help you break this curse.”
His lips curve in a faint, triumphant smile. We both know the word “love” was absent from my vow. We both know I can’t promise that.
“Then I, King Keiren Drakovayne, the Beast of Abrellia, take you, Selene Anne Fairchild, as my wife. I will be faithful to you and no other, for better or worse. I vow to protect you and those you love and keep every promise spoken this night.”
Before I can move, his mouth is on mine.
Heat. Pressure. The taste of smoke and steel. His kiss is fierce, claiming, a fire sparking where only resolve existed. I answer without thinking—because despite everything, I still crave him.
Pain tears through me. I gasp as light sears across the inside of my wrist, carving into it the outline of a crescent moon. It glows silver for a heartbeat, then slowly fades like sand falling through an unseen glass.
He pulls away. I stagger, heart hammering. His gaze searches mine, unreadable.
“It’s done,” he murmurs.
I glance at my hand. The cut is gone, healed as if it never was. Only one bargain remains, and the bitter vow my ring represents.
The path winds up through the mountains—a narrow, twisting tunnel carved of stone, so tight that in places, my shoulders scrape the cold walls. The only sounds are our footsteps and the faint hum of distant magic.
Keiren guides me ahead, his hand steady at my back. “Stay close,” he murmurs. “This passage was built by the first dragons. It will take us back into the keep’s wards.”
The air vibrates faintly. I glance back and see that the entrance has already vanished behind us, replaced by smooth, unbroken rock.
My pulse quickens. “It’s magic.”
“Old magic,” he says, “tied to the stars themselves.”
We step into a pocket of light. For a moment, the tunnel blurs, the stone giving way to weightlessness, the world folding around us in a shimmer of starlight.
Then, with a rush of wind, solid ground returns beneath my boots.
I blink against the sudden brightness. We’re standing on the outskirts of the keep’s barrier, where the mountain slopes upward in jagged terraces. Below us, the valley glows faintly under moonlight. Above, the sky spreads, endless and bright.
“This way.” Keiren nods toward the steep path that coils toward the upper cliffs.
We climb in silence. My legs ache. My dress is heavy with dew, my mind a storm of questions. Each breath burns in my chest.
“Let me carry you,” he offers quietly.
“I can walk,” I snap.
His lips twitch, amused. “Stubborn as ever.”
I ignore him, focusing on each step, though fatigue claws at my limbs. A few glowing worms cling to the rock, casting faint light along the path. Their glow dances across his face—half shadow, half flame.
I force myself to speak, needing distraction from the ache and the storm of thoughts crowding my head. “Why can you be human here?” My voice comes out softer than I mean it to.
He glances over his shoulder, the torchlight flickering in his eyes. “This ridge lies between realms. The curse binds me withinthe keep’s heart, but up here”—he gestures toward the stars—“the dragon’s hold weakens. The night itself allows me this form, which is why we can't just fly back. I cannot transform until dawn. A wedding gift, in a sense.”
The wordweddingmakes my stomach twist. We’re married now, and before the night is over…
I shove the thought away before it can take shape.
