Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
“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.”