Game has not changed. I still must travel far to hunt. The earth below is nothing but sand, stone, and decay.
I don’t dare travel to Krokant to see what state the land is in, whether there is absolutely nothing or if there is…more. I want to check my family’s graves as well, but anything I do will mean that I am separated from Cindi for longer, and it is killing me.
My wife comes first. Always. If the Curse remains, then so be it. What’s done is done. There is nothing I can do about it.
Tonight, we will flee, biding our time on the mainland until I can determine whether my kingdom has been saved. And if the Curse never lifts, I will protect Cindi any way I can, Vasz too.
I swim hard across the barren land, hating that Cindi is alone and vulnerable on the island. Vasz hasn’t willingly left her side once, not unless I all but throw him out of the den.
A flash of color out of the corner of my eye stops me in my tracks. I frown, squinting against the murky waters to make out the hint of…green?
It can’t be.
I swoop low to the floor and quicken my pace to get a better look. Sprouting from the sand are two shoots of bright green grass.
Grass.
Tentatively, I reach out and brush my finger along a shoot to make sure I’m not dreaming. Prickles rain across my skin when my nail hits it and it doesn’t float away. This is the first sign of life I’ve seen in these parts in over twenty years.
It worked. The Curse is broken.
A smile splits across my face. My mate did it.
I race toward the island. I must tell my Cindi. Hopefully, she is awake so I can see her eyes brighten with delight. My family’s lands are saved—their deaths weren’t for nothing. If Yannig could see me now, he’d call me to the palace and insist on throwing a feast in my name, no one but the two of us in attendance. Chlaena would make decrees in my honor. My mother would be proud her outcast son has saved the lives of all krakens.
We did it—the ones my people see as vermin are the very reason they will continue to exist.
My nostrils flare as I close in on the island. A subtle wave of foreign scents are quickly approaching. Among them sits an unmistakable scent.
My knuckles crack. They’re coming.
I jet the remaining distance and climb straight onto shore, speeding between the trees toward the hut. I smell her longbefore I see her. Our scents are mingled from the time we spent in the den this morning, seeing how many times I could make her climax. It’s the most exhilarating thing to watch—and feeling her walls clamp down around me? A few times, I thought I was going to die.
Hearing my approach, she pops her head out from the hammock, and her entire face comes alight. Her brown eyes twinkle beneath the sun as the cool breeze carries her scent toward me. My eyes track the bite mark on her chest, and I release the barest purr.
Vasz huffs and resumes his chewing like I’m nothing more than an inconvenience.
My wife stumbles out of the hammock, and I whisk her off her feet, transferring her from my tentacles to my arms before she can so much as say hello. My lips are on hers the moment she’s close enough, and she kisses me back like we’ve been doing it for thousands of years rather than mere days.
My tentacle wraps around her thighs. I shiver, tasting the remnants of my seed in the threads of her pores. It feels like if I blink too hard, it will all disappear.
I feared the worst after I bit her, but the worry was short-lived once she awoke, skin glowing like she’d had the best sleep in her life. Not once have I seen her sway in her steps or snooze in the middle of the day. She no longer sleeps longer than Vasz, and she moves faster, surer than I’m used to.
“The Curse is broken,” I rasp against her lips, barely believing I can finally say those words. It feels right to have her in my arms like this.
Thisis what I prayed to the Goddess for. Not a mate, but a partner, someone who completes me. Someone who is smart, brave, and sees me for who I am.
Cindi’s beautiful eyes round. “What? Really?”
I nod. “I saw grass growing not far from here.” Soon, kelp and reefs will return. I’ll make trips to the mainland to collect seeds to hurry the process along. “But they’re coming. You must go to the den.”
Vasz perks up and immediately sprints toward the beach, barking and growling and acting like he can take all krakens on.
“No.” She shakes her hand, pushing against me as I head toward the tunnels into our cave.
“You must. It isn’t safe,” I growl.
We’ve discussed this before—the possibility of the krakens coming early before we can make our escape. She refuses to leave before giving it time to see if the Curse has been lifted.
