Page 33 of Kael (Monsters & Mates #2)

CHAPTER

FOURTEEN

“I need your blood.”

Since this isn’t the most romantic way I can ask to finalise our fated bond—nor perhaps the best way for Kael to be woken up—when he startles awake and stares at me like I’ve said the sky is falling, I offer him the sweetest smile I can manage and press my lips to his.

“Morning,” I start again, gentler this time. “I hope you slept well. When you’re awake properly, I think we should complete our bond.”

Do I add more confidence than I’m feeling?

Absolutely. I’m nothing if not great at laying on the bullshit.

Though I know it’s also pointless—bravado, that is—since my emotions are there for Kael’s viewing pleasure.

The tangled mess of anticipation, longing, nerves, and that tiny speck of fear? Yeah, he’s probably feeling all of it.

But Kael’s reaction isn’t what I expect.

His brow furrows, tension creeping into his shoulders as he props himself on one elbow. He doesn’t speak at first, just watches me like I’ve asked for a limb, not a drop of blood. That bond, still unfinished, shimmers between us—aching.

“You’re… worried?” I ask.

His silence confirms it.

I sit back on my heels, heart thudding a little harder. “I figured it was the next step. Right? We’ve already done the energy exchange. The emotional merge is—” I gesture between us. “—well, clearly a thing.”

Kael rubs his hand over his face. “I want to. You know I do.”

“But?”

His luminous eyes meet mine, stormy. “After what we talked about yesterday…. If someone’s manipulating rifts, using bonds or pulling power—this could make us a bigger target. We don’t know what finishing this will do.”

I blink. “We’re already bonded, Kael. We’ve done everything but this last part. And sure, maybe it makes us glow brighter in the dark, but we can’t leave this thing unfinished. That’s not how fate works. Or… movies. Or romance novels.”

His lips twitch faintly.

Despite the smile, I mean it. I’m not forcing this on him. If he’s not ready—if he’s scared—it has to be a choice.

Before he can answer, there’s a sudden, sharp pounding on my door. Urgent. Loud.

Kael’s already on his feet, warrior instincts snapping into place. He tugs on his pants with swift efficiency, hand already reaching for the knife on the table. I scramble up, too, dragging on my shirt.

“Sonny!” Shanae’s voice. Firm. Pressing.

Kael yanks the door open.

“It’s Dawson. The prince. You’re needed. Now.”

No more explanation is needed. Every drop of blood in my body rushes to my feet and head simultaneously. Adrenaline explodes through me, and Kael doesn’t hesitate. He sweeps me off my feet, bridal style, like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

“Seriously?” I mutter as he bolts through the corridor.

“It’s faster,” he replies, and that’s all I get before he’s a blur, his boots pounding the ground as we race towards the medical wing. And for once, I don’t argue. Because something’s wrong. That much is obvious.

The corridors fly past in a rush of cold air and flickering lights, my heart hammering in time with each of Kael’s strides. When we burst into the medical wing, the tension hits me like a wall. The room is too quiet.

Prince Aelith lies on the bed—unmoving. Unconscious. Not just resting or sedated like before. His skin, usually glowing faintly with that royal bioluminescence, is dim. Shadowed. Wrong.

Iris is already here, flitting between monitoring devices and handwritten notes, her face drawn tight with concern. The swirling black mist in the corner confirms her mate is here, too, lurking like some watchful, angry guardian spirit.

Kael sets me down with care but is instantly at Aelith’s side.

“What happened?” he demands—calm, steady, but I can feel the storm beneath his voice.

Iris doesn’t flinch. “His sedation wore off sometime during the night. I spoke to him briefly before I turned in. He seemed… lucid. Determined. I left him under guard and checked back an hour later. He was unconscious.”

“Foul play?” I blurt, heart in my throat. “The guards?”

She shakes her head. “They’re loyal. Varek chose them himself. I stayed up most of the night in the next room, checking in every hour. No one came in. No alarms were triggered. And Henny would have known.”

I eye the prince again, swallowing hard. “Then… what?”

“He gave too much,” Iris says quietly. “He’s stable—for now. His vitals are… borderline. But his Glowranth energy is low. Dangerously so.”

Kael’s jaw clenches. “How low?”

“Too low,” she replies. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Not in Glowranth, not in any species. It’s like… he burned himself out.”

Before Kael can respond, the door swings open and Varek enters.

He looks like hell. His clothing is rumpled, his usually immaculate hair a little dishevelled, and his expression is a thundercloud.

Shanae follows him, offering me a quick nod of acknowledgment, her sharp eyes flicking between Iris and the prince.

Varek’s luminous gaze meets Kael’s. “How bad?”

Kael steps back from the prince’s bed. “Worse than before.”

Iris answers with a clipped nod, “He needs intervention. Something bigger than anything we have here.”

Varek runs a hand down his face, exhaling sharply. “There was a flare-up overnight. Rumblings of revolt. The usual suspects.” His gaze flicks to me, then to Kael. “But this? This is bad.”

“What’s the plan?” I ask, pulse still racing. “We can’t keep him like this.” We can’t let him die.

“There are two options,” Varek says. “Neither of them good.”

Shanae steps forwards. “The first—taking them both to the palace.”

Kael’s head jerks towards her. “You can’t be serious.”

“It might be the only chance we have,” she says. “The Glowranth palace has technology. Resources. Archives. If there’s anything—anything at all—that could help, it would be there.”

“They’d kill him on sight for desertion,” Kael growls. “And they wouldn’t spare Dawson either. They’d use this as justification for a purge.” He glances at me, and I know he’s thinking about me, about us. Our own bond and the threat we pose.

“Not if we go with him,” Varek says.

“You mean… escort them?” I ask, trying to keep up. “Like a diplomatic mission?”

“Something like that. If we show up on their doorstep with a Riftborn envoy and the royal guard—Kael—they might pause long enough to listen.”

“Or they’ll see it as a direct attack,” Iris mutters, “and we’ll all be dead before we hit the front steps.” She huffs out a breath, and her mate’s mist pulses around her.

So, she’d plan to go too? I suppose someone would need to check on Dawson. But still… this all seems crazy and is getting out of hand. Right?

Shanae shakes her head and faces Varek. “Do you honestly think leaving Dathanor right now is wise?”

The room falls into a heavy silence, and I wonder just how bad things are getting with Zeyv.

To be honest, the dickwad has just been looking for an excuse.

I hate to think it, let alone say it, but maybe Varek needs to go all Nyxerian on his arse.

While I don’t know a lot about Varek’s species, I know enough to understand he’s deadly and not to be challenged unless you generally are all that.

“What’s the other option?” I ask finally.

“There’s a library?” Kael questions.

Varek bobs his head while I just glance between them in confusion.

“There’s a library that predates the queen’s reign. It’s hidden, only known to a few. I’ve only heard rumours, but if it exists and tells us more about fated mates….”

“It could hold what we need,” Varek finishes.

“But we’d have to find it first,” Shanae adds. “And time’s not exactly our friend.”

I look at the prince—at his still, quiet form. Then at Dawson, equally still on the neighbouring bed. My gaze meets Kael’s. “We can’t lose them.”

His hand finds mine. “We won’t.”

Varek nods. “We’ll split our forces. I’ll keep order here. Iris, you’ll stay with both patients. Shanae, prepare the diplomatic documentation just in case. Kael, Sonny—you’ll find that library.”

My heart jumps. “Us?”

“You’re bonded,” Varek says. “Glowranth and human. If the old stories are true, you might be the key to opening its gates.”

What fucking gates? What old stories? Does he mean how Glowranth used to have fated mates, but their ability stopped centuries or however long ago? And what happened to simply going to the queen for help? Not that I necessarily think that’s an awesome idea, but still….

Kael’s thumb brushes over my knuckles.

“So, we go?” I ask him quietly.

He nods, resolve hardening in his jaw. “We go.”

I wince. My courage wavers. There’s also the other “thing” we need to search for. The whole “who’s responsible and has the power to be creating these rifts in the first place” thing. I look at Kael, wishing he could hear me.

Should we tell them what we discussed last night? Would that complicate shit even further?

But he just looks at me, curiosity in his eyes. Yeah, he can feel my emotions, but we need the whole shebang. Which leads us back to the blood exchange he was reluctant to?—

“Henny will take you.” Iris’s words cleave clean through the swirl of questions spinning through my head.

Kael stiffens beside me. I blink at her. “Henny will—he’ll what now?”

She lifts her chin, unshaken. “He can get you there faster than anyone else. Quietly. Safely.”

I flick my gaze towards the corner, where the black mist is already coalescing like a living shadow.

Henny’s presence curls at the edges of the room, cool and terrifying in its stillness.

Right. Because nothing says low-key and not alarming to my nervous system like being zipped through space via an eldritch cloud demon with a personality kink for vengeance.

Okay, I tagged that bit on, but he’s got the whole grr-argh thing going for him.

I open my mouth, shut it again, then offer what I think is a very reasonable question: “How do we get back?”