Page 20 of Entwined

Finding the heart is the key to all the rest.

I can’t help glancing down at my chest—does my weird birthmark and that Icelandic volcano really have anything to do with this heart they’re searching for?

Once I’m suitably prepared to face the problem at hand, I march into the family room where Axel’s been pacing. “Okay. I have an idea.”

“What?” He stops, turning toward me slowly. His golden eyes are reserved, and his entire frame is. . .coiled, almost, like a snake prepared to strike. I hate how gorgeous he is, as if being deadly in every way and magical on top of that wasn’t already enough.

“I have a few ideas, actually.” I point at the massive dining table that’s been swept against the far wall. “Maybe we can sit and talk about them.”

He shrugs, following me over to a seat. Once he sits, I stand and move to a different chair. It’s better for me to sit across from him than right next to him. I need to remember that we’re not on the same team.

“We have one main goal that’s the same for both our people—acquiring the heart so you can leave.”

He frowns.

“Your brother’s arrival has sort of delayed that, since we put off our departure to update him and accommodate the new arrivals.”

“We’re lucky my father sent him. My other brothers would have attacked me immediately and tried to take control of the Recovery.”

Okay, that’s news I didn’t have. “So, wait, Hyperion’s the good brother?”

Axel shrugs. “None of my brothers are really good, but he’s better than the others.”

“He says you have to report back to your dad quickly,” I say. “Right?”

Axel nods.

“But could Hyperion go back to report in your place if he had good news to share?”

“What does that mean?” He narrows his eyes.

“You should mate with Asteria,” I say. “Then Hyperion can go back and tell your dad that you’re busy, and that you did as he asked. He can tell him that we have a, well, sort of a lead on the heart, too. Those people chanting in Iceland were all saying ‘the heart,’ ‘the heart,’ ‘the heart.’ Combined with my birthmark. . .” My hand rises to the spot where I know it’s hiding under my shirt, the perfectly shaped reddish heart.

“My father doesn’t need to know about the birthmark or your involvement,” Axel says. “Just that we have word of a group of humans gathered in front of a volcano, chanting hjartanu over and over.”

“Sure,” I say. “Okay.” But it sounds like he’s trying to protect me, and while I like that, I also don’t, because it confuses me. “But we need to focus here.”

“Focus?” His eyebrows rise.

“You and I?” I stand up, bracing my hands on the tabletop and lean toward him. “We can’t kiss. We can’t even talk about mating. I wish we’d never entwined.”

He looks wounded, like I slapped him, and the bond is a stormy gray.

“Think about it,” I say. “Before we entwined, you could’ve left and I’d have been fine. Now, when you leave, I’ll die.” I sigh. “I wish we’d left things as they were. I’ll help you, but we should try to undo as much of our connection as we possibly can.”

“Undo?”

“Maybe if you mate with Asteria, and I spend more time with Gideon, we can?—”

Axel explodes to his feet, shoving the solid wood table several inches toward me. “No.”

“Oh, come on.” I shake my head. “It makes sense. I know you’re possessive, and I know a dragon’s natural instinct is to own things, but?—”

In the blink of an eye, he’s vaulted over the table. “You can’t—with Gideon, I forbid it.” He’s standing inches away, his chest rising and falling quickly.

“But you’re mating with Asteria.” I lift my chin, ignoring the surge of anger that makes me feel. “This only works if what you do, I do.”

His hand grips the side of the table until his knuckles go white. “Liz, no.”