Page 39 of Kael (Monsters & Mates #2)

CHAPTER

SEVENTEEN

Momentum apparently means we’re moving right now.

I don’t even get the chance to take a piss since Pax made two things crystal clear.

One is that he wants us gone and never to return.

And yeah, so many warm and fuzzies are coming from him that my heart really hurts for Varek.

What the hell is fate thinking, pairing them together?

And two, we have to move now if we want to get into the citadel undetected and without getting dead.

Fun time all around for sure.

We’re outside, the bright day not giving us any cover. Varek and I are wearing pretty daggy cloak-like clothing, though, to stop us from standing out too much. It’s itchy, and I look ridiculous. It’s just a good thing Kael already loves me is all I’m saying.

Tension clings to the air, thick as smoke.

Pax has made it clear that this window of opportunity is short—shifting patrol schedules and some upcoming ceremonial procession mean the usual guards will be thinned out around the perimeter of the citadel for a brief stretch.

That’s the only reason we’ll be able to get close without drawing attention.

Kael keeps glancing upwards at the tall silver-white spires jutting from the citadel’s crown, as if expecting something— or someone—to appear. His jaw is tight, his eyes constantly scanning. We’re close now. I can feel it.

“Why here?” I whisper to him.

He doesn’t answer immediately, just adjusts the cloak over my shoulders before speaking into my mind.

“The citadel was once the seat of ancient Glowranth wisdom. Long before the queen, long before the divide. If the library exists—if it’s real—it’s here.

Hidden beneath what the monarchy built on top of it. ”

Right. Because of course it’s under a fortress that’s probably crawling with potential death.

We make it to the edge without being spotted.

My nerves are riding me hard, gut tight and mouth dry.

I know it’s not just anxiety—I can feel the pulsing of energy beneath my skin, like it’s drawn to something here.

Maybe Kael’s glowing cum jump-started something—not the actual reason, obviously, but hey, if I can’t crack a joke while edging towards a complete meltdown, who even am I?

The four of us crouch at the edge of a shadowy wall, a giant stone facade looming ahead like it’s daring us to enter. The structure is breathtaking and terrifying all at once—arched windows, tiered stonework carved with ancient sigils, its smooth grey surface pulsing faintly with stored energy.

I glance at the others. Varek is silent, jaw clenched. Kael stands at my side, a calm wall of strength, though I can feel his unease churning beneath the surface. Pax is the only one who moves.

“Double date adventure?” I murmur, voice low. The joke drops to the ground like a stone. No one reacts. Not even a blink.

Tough crowd.

Pax pulls a massive key from the folds of his cloak—seriously, where the hell has he been hiding that?

—and then a small rectangular device that hums with a faint buzz.

He inserts the key into what looks like a flat slab of stone embedded into the floor at the base of the wall.

With the device held against the stone, a pulse of light shoots out, tracing patterns into the slab.

Something clicks. The stone slides back, revealing a staircase that descends into darkness. A wave of cold air rushes out.

But it’s not the chill that makes me shiver. It’s the feeling in my chest.

Kael goes rigid beside me. His energy pulses hot and sharp. “That device,” he says, voice like iron. “It’s charged with Glowranth energy. Captured.” His anger hits me like a shock wave through the bond.

Pax glances back, unfazed. “You want in or not?” And for the first time, I hear a twang of Aussie in his otherwise English accent.

I step closer to Kael, placing a hand on his arm. “We don’t have time. We need to find whatever’s down there.”

Kael’s jaw flexes, his fury simmering just beneath the surface. But after a beat, he nods.

We descend into the dark. And whatever waits for us below? It better have answers, because if I’m going to shit myself, there needs to be a legit reason for it.

The door hisses shut behind us, sealing off what little light we had from above. It’s instantly cold—damp-air, stone-walls, crypt-vibes cold. I blink, trying to adjust, but everything is shadow and dust.

“Welcome to the world’s creepiest cellar,” I mutter, my voice echoing off the arched ceiling.

The basement of the citadel is… vast. Like, could-host-a-Gothic-rave-level vast. The ceiling stretches high, disappearing into darkness, and the walls are lined with strange etchings—glyphs carved into the stone, their meanings lost to time or magic or possibly someone’s incredibly angsty teen phase.

Columns support the space at intervals, some cracked and worn, others looking sharp enough to pierce armour.

Kael steps closer to me, his glowing eyes scanning the surroundings. “This was once a hall of record. Glowranth scribes stored knowledge here before the royal libraries were established.”

“Before? How old is this place?” I ask.

“Centuries,” Kael says. “Maybe more.”

“Right,” I whisper. “So… basically the last place anyone wants to be if they’ve got even a hint of claustrophobia or mummy-related trauma.”

Pax, who’s clearly over our existence, strides towards the far side of the room and stops at a stone doorway I hadn’t even noticed. It’s built seamlessly into the wall—one of those annoying magic things you wouldn’t know is there unless someone showed you or you smashed into it by accident.

“This way,” he says, voice gruff.

We follow.

The doorway leads to a spiral staircase made of narrow stone steps that look like they were designed to trip people with poor spatial awareness. The kind that were probably a hit before handrails were invented.

“Down,” Pax says unnecessarily and starts descending.

“I’ll go first,” Varek says, brushing past both of us. “In case there are traps.”

“I’ll guard the rear,” Kael says immediately, shifting behind me.

I snort. “Tempting to make a joke, but honestly, I don’t want to tempt fate right now.”

Kael’s quiet chuckle echoes in my mind, a warm flicker even as the walls close in.

We move. Step after step. The spiral feels endless, a winding descent into the bowels of the citadel. A couple of landings come and go, marked by doorways we don’t enter. Not yet.

“How deep is this place?” I pant, because I am in fact a human and not a giant lizard-fae-warrior with endless cardio.

Kael thinks for a beat. “I don’t know in your measurements.”

Pax doesn’t even look back. “About a hundred feet. Maybe more.”

So, roughly thirty metres. “Cool,” I mutter. “That’s… terrifying.”

The air grows thicker the deeper we go, charged. My skin starts to prickle like it’s preparing for a sunburn, but inside out.

We finally get to the bottom. One last landing. One last door.

I pause, reaching out and grazing the stone wall. The moment my fingers connect, the air hums. Something thrums beneath the surface. It zings along my skin, shooting straight to my chest like a tether being pulled taut. “Kael?” My voice cracks.

He’s already swearing under his breath. His markings are glowing brighter, his expression sharp and unsettled. “Do you feel that?”

“Like my insides are trying to do jazz hands? Yeah.”

Varek steps closer to the door but doesn’t react. Pax arches a brow. “You feel something?” he asks Kael.

Kael nods tightly. “Energy. Wild, unhinged energy. So does Sonny.”

Pax’s frown deepens. “Really? No one else has ever reacted. Not even Glowranth.”

“Well, I hate to break it to you,” I say, dragging in a breath through my teeth, “but something down here is getting real personal with my nerve endings.”

“The bond,” Kael murmurs. “It might be… amplifying.”

My bond. Our bond.

Right.

So, this room, whatever’s behind that door, isn’t just old stone and secrets. It’s something more. Something wild—and it’s calling us.

We go through the door, and honestly, I’m not sure what I expected. Maybe glowing tomes. Floating relics. A room full of ancient scrolls that whisper forbidden knowledge in seductive voices.

Instead? Bugger all.

It’s dusty. Dim. Bare as Kael’s chest the first time I saw him, minus any of the appeal.

There are a few rickety old shelves, warped from age and weightless from lack of books.

A couple of broken chairs, one of them with a leg missing and slumped over like it gave up on life mid-meeting.

The air is still thick with that strange, electric energy, but visually? This place is a dud.

My shoulders slump. “Well, that’s… anticlimactic.”

But Kael? My hunk of a mate is already moving. He steps further inside, his gaze distant, tracking something invisible. “It’s still here,” he murmurs. “The energy. It’s beneath us.”

I frown, following. “Beneath?”

He nods, his eyes glowing faintly, his steps slow and deliberate. “Like a river, flowing under the stone. I can feel the current. It’s strong here, stronger than anywhere I’ve ever felt it. Even stronger than… than the bond.”

That stops me cold. Because if this is more potent than our bond—which just nearly exploded both of us into blissful stardust—then yeah, this is serious.

Kael moves towards the back of the room, where a wall stretches floor to ceiling, carved with faded markings. He presses his palm to the stone.

Nothing happens.

“It’s here,” he says again, firmer this time. “But I don’t know how to open it.”

I join him, reaching out and brushing my fingers over the surface. It’s cool. Solid. Unmoving. But there’s a thrum underneath, like a distant heartbeat. My skin tingles. The bond in my chest flickers to life in response, like it’s perking up with curiosity.

Varek and Pax hang back, watching silently. Waiting.