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“My sorcery is fully restored”—as boundless as his feelings for Kosmina—“which means that each grain of sand would be a sentry. I could detect anyone who arrived in the realm.”

Mirceo wasn’t sold. “What if the Gaolers just appear in your home and use time manipulation?”

Kosmina said, “I sensed their presence before they arrived, and my breaths condensed. Now that we know what to look for, we can trace to Poly at the first sign of them.”

Adham added, “The sand scyllas are rumored to repel time manipulation. It’s why I lured them to this holding. They were my backup in case the Gaolers ever breached Poly. With your help, we could transport the creatures to Sorselan.”

Kosmina grinned. “I promised Entizeroscyllas with the transfer of this property.” As if to punctuate her words, one ofthem belched loudly from the base of the pyramid and sand puffed up into the air.

“Rumored to repel? Rumored?” Mirceo’s patience frayed at the edges. “There’s still too much risk.”

“I’m willing to take some risk in orderto live,” Kosmina pointed out. “Besides, since I’ve met Adham, I’ve dreamed of the desert. I think for a reason.” Squeezing his hand, she said, “We’ve decided we’re going to reside there. Wish us well.”

At that, Caspion said, “We do, Mina, and we’ll help you two in any way we can.” He addressed his mate: “Come on, leechling, give them your blessing, and let’s get to it. We’ve got drunken scyllas to wrangle.”

Tense moments passed, and Adham felt as if his future hung suspended over a sand trap.

Then Kosmina said, “Brother, while I would prefer to have your blessing, I do notneedit.”

Adham checked a smile. His princess, shy no more, would live only on her own terms.

“Well. You really are different.” Mirceo threw his hands up in surrender. “Fine. No hard feelings, Silt.”

She firmly said, “His name is Adham.”

Fifty-Seven

Sorselan

Months later . . .

“She could not be any cuter,” Kosmina said from her spot on the floor. Hearts in her eyes, she rolled a ball across the carpet.

“Or more mischievous,” Adham said fondly from his spot beside his mate. “She pincered another pair of my boots.”

“Naughty, stingerling,” Kosmina cooed to their baby scorpion as it fetched the ball. Mirceo, as a token of goodwill, had apologized about Sequara and sourced this one for them. “Our wittle Sequaret must need more toys.”

Adham raised his brows. Scorpion toys already covered an entire floor of their new home.

Unlike his former stronghold, he’d built his mate a vampiric castle in the style of Dacia’s, with flying buttresses, arches, and Gothic turrets. Diamond windows filtered the sunlight during the day, and a blood fountain bubbled in her spacious salon.

He’d situated the structure on the banks of his oasis amid all the fruit trees and dunes, using sand to move blocks.Constructed in record time, it was the most spectacular thing he’d ever built.

Sequaret tired of chasing her toy and trundled over to her bed, all but purring. As the creature nodded off, Kosmina sighed, her gaze besotted. Though she’d begun to dream snippets of his memories, her irises remained blue. “I never liked arachnids before her.”

“They grow on you.”

As the sun set, the evening breezes roused to stir the castle’s many windchimes. Recalling today’s blistering sun, he rubbed his palm over the back of his neck. At some level, it must unnerve her to be here. “You know, we won’t always be exiled. We will fight the Gaolers.” Those phantasms had placed another bounty on Adham and also on Kosmina, which meant he would soon discover how to annihilate them.

With her by his side, he was strong. Still, he’d always be on his guard against power theft and their foes.

Aside from his sentries of sand and their growing guard-scorpion, he’d implemented more traps. And with the help of Mirceo and Caspion, they’d teleported the drunken scyllas here to inhabit the grounds around the castle. The fraught drying-out period for the creatures had proved eye-opening, but lessons had been learned, and everyone had grown from the experience.

“We will fight them. Yes,” Kosmina said. “But I don’t consider this exile.” She rose and took his hand, leading him out onto their large observation deck to watch the rising moon. She lifted her face to the gentle kiss of wind, seeming enamored with the breezes here. Little wonder. When Mina had traced him to Dacia to pack her things, not even a wisp of air had disturbed the ever-present mist.

At the railing, they admired the scene before them. Palm fronds rustled and waves lapped the clear water. The globe of a full yellow moon peeked over shifting dunes. “This is home.”She’d just said the words when a purple tentacle curled around a baluster. Then came another tentacle of a slightly deeper color. Used to this nightly ritual, she pulled jerky from her pockets and treated their scyllas.

With sounds of beastly delight, they took their prizes to the base of the castle. When more tentacles reemerged, she emptied her pockets with a chuckle. “Greedy scyllas.” Kosmina truly did love it here amid all the sand and sun and monsters.