There are rocks in my throat as I put the pieces together. I'm pretty sure they just volunteered me to heal someone's broken heart. Not just someone. Raiden's mother. Hydreos reaches across the table to hand me back my dagger.
It's heavier somehow.
“You must not use that on anyone else until you reach Invidia. Stab her straight and true through the heart, and she will betrapped within the stone indefinitely. You will not have long to repair the wound once the stone-soul transfer is complete.”
I nod, though I'm not sure the magnitude of my task has truly sunk in.
Raiden
Hydreos offers us rooms in his palace for the night, and I know better than to refuse him when he's feeling generous.
Though I do make one minor change to his plan to separate us by moving Arina into my quarters.
My mate has been teetering between seething and pouting, and I intend to begin making it up to her as soon as she'll allow me close enough. Besides, leaving her alone in a god's realm could end in disaster.
Lavinia is fine on her own, and likely already getting herself into trouble and collecting secrets the same way she used to collect trinkets and shiny things when we were young. She was not ready to discuss the terms of our new deal with me yet, but I know she'll come around.
Arina stands on the balcony in her nightgown, gently rolling the petal of a light pink jasmine flower between her thumb and pointer finger. The vines of the plant sprawl across the walls of the castle, small glittering white moths flit from one blossom to the next, leaving a trail of shimmering dust in their wake, and it occurs to me that she's never seen such a thing.
“They're remarkable,” she says.
“When we return life back to Lukasia, I will have hordes of them brought over for you.” I grab her waist, pulling her hips into mine. I cannot get her close enough.
She leans into me, and I can hear her heart fluttering madly in her chest.
“Is that how you plan to keep me? By bribing me with pretty things?” Her voice is low, seductive. Fucking perfection.
“I have made very few plans for a future that looks anything like the one where we get to be together. Where I truly get to have you,” I whisper at the base of her neck and leave one soft kiss there.
She hums. “Ever the cynic.”
“As tempting as it sounds, I will not chain you to me.” I need her to know that she has a choice in this. “This is my burden to carry through. You are free to decide your own path.”
She flips around to look at me, her big green eyes boring into mine. “And if my choice is you?”
“If you choose me, little snake, then I am the luckiest fae to walk any realm, and I will cherish you for as long as the gods allow us.”
The ocean realm in its entirety goes still, and there is nothing but this.
“What do you want, Arina?” I ask, my mouth hovering over hers. The air is thick and hot around us, and I swear to the gods if she doesn't say what I need her to, I might beg them to end me now.
Her lips are on mine in an instant. The flash of electricity that hits me is bone-rattling, and I groan into her mouth at the way she fits against me. Like she was made for me. She has sprouted roots that knot and tangle around my heart, and if she denies me, then she can rip it from my chest. I will not care.
“I want you.” The words surprise me because she doesn't mean that she wants me here and now. She means that she is choosing this madness that is my destiny. Choosing to stand by my side even if it means death.
She drags her teeth down my bottom lip, nibbling softly, and my dick twitches. “Slow down. There is something we must discuss.”
“Whatever it is, my answer is yes.”
I chuckle because she's so fucking eager.
“Do you know anything about solidifying a mating bond?” I ask, curious how much of her heritage, if any, she is familiar with.
“Not exactly,” she says, worrying her lip. “But I have an idea of what it might entail.”
I don't intend to rush this or force her into something she doesn't fully comprehend.
“We will save the lesson for another time. For now, let me savor you.” I scoop her legs up, wrapping them around my waist and gently grabbing the back of her neck, tilting it back so I can kiss up her jaw.
