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Chapter 18

Fara

F ara held very still as Teague dipped his long, black paintbrush into the special ink he’d concocted for rune magic.

“What’s in it?” she asked breathily.

His knees butted against hers and the desire to climb onto his lap was nearly undeniable.

“Clay from the Realm of Night. Ink from the spotted octopus. And no, I didn’t kill one. We harvest ink from these creatures when they die back at home. There’s also a bit of honey and a few crushed leaves of sage because that aids the magic. At least, that’s what my grandmother always told me.”

Fara smiled. “I can’t imagine you as a youngling, sitting and listening patiently to a grandmother of any sort.”

“She was twice as big as I am now.”

“What? Really?”

“Aye. Sometimes the women in our family show off a bit of troll blood.”

“That’s honestly horrifying.”

He chuckled. “It’s an old family joke. We don’t actually have troll blood. We just had a few larger folks in the line.”

“Oh. Right. Of course.”

He slid the neckline of her tunic to one side and set the brush on the top of her shoulder. Drawing the ink in a slow circle, he hummed and murmured words in a language she didn’t know. Every stroke sent wonderful tremors down her body until she was melting. Each dot and slash of the brush was like a soft kiss along her flesh. He painted his way up her neck, then over her forehead. The ink was cool and when he hummed that odd tune of his, the runes tingled lightly.

They talked as if she wasn’t about to meet a kraken face-to-face. She told him about helping Tahlia sneak into the dragon rider tournament, the struggles and joys of becoming a Healer with the order, and of her time before going to Dragon Tail Peak.

In turn, he regaled her with stories of his realm, of running through mossy forests where trees read your aura and reflected it back to you, of fantastical animals she’d never even heard about, and about the night market festivities. He told her about how his family was all gone now, but that he had friends enough to suit him. He’d met the Unseelie king a few times as a Seer, and he gave that king, King Toren, advice on how to proceed with monster wrangling—it could be a real problem in the Realm of Night—and what to do with an advisor who he knew was on her way to betraying him.

Almost every inch of her exposed skin was now painted in power.

“I’ll need you to remove your trousers,” he said, raising an eyebrow. His mouth quirked up with mischief.

Taking a deep breath, she nodded and did so, leaving her small linen shorts on. Going to his knees, he held her knee gently and continued humming and murmuring. He painted a tree-shape over her thigh and she shivered. As he added two dots over the shape, his claws dragged over her. Her skin pebbled and her heart smashed against her chest. She licked her lips and noticed his gaze pinned to her mouth. He paused in his work.

“Maybe we need to wait on this until after I’ve introduced you to what our private life will be like once you give up fighting the bond.”

“What do you mean?” She knew, but she wanted to hear him say it.

He just chuckled low in his throat and went back to painting. Such a bastard.

His fingers moved gracefully and quickly over her other thigh, down her calves, and then he took each foot in turn and drew runes on her arches.

“Please, stop. That tickles so badly.”

He drew one claw up the side of her foot, then down to her heel. Heat poured into her core and she took a shaky breath.

“Teague, please.”

She wasn’t honestly sure what she was asking for. For him to stop messing with her ticklish feet? To stop painting so they could do more interesting things on his bed over there? What did she want? She knew, but she didn’t know. Pressing her eyes shut, she felt him move away a little.

“We can take a break if you need it,” he said quietly.

She opened her eyes and savored the look of him on his knees before her. “No, I’m all right. I am adjusting. Or fighting it. I don’t know, Teague. This is just…”

He tucked her hair behind her ear. “I know, my heart. I know.”

With quick strokes of his slender brush, he inked more runes down each of her arms, their shapes ending at her wrists. The tickling bristles and the soft hold of his fingers turned her into a puddle. There was a distant voice in her head that still claimed he was the enemy, but she knew that was the part of her that hadn’t yet accepted the bond. There was no denying this feeling. It sang through her soul like the most beautiful and fitting piece of music. When she mixed the herbs just right and watched her patients at Dragon Tail Peak recover, she felt a fraction of satisfaction like this. She wanted to cradle his head in her hands and study every line of his fierce face. She longed to learn about each one of his scars and why he wore a ring with a blue stone on his left forefinger. Every story of his should have been hers. Her heart had accepted him. Her soul, too. Her fearful side would need time, but she knew he would be patient with that element of her personality.

He paused, brush hovering over the tip of her chin where he’d painted a swirling rune that tingled with power. His mouth was less than an inch from hers.

“Kiss me,” she said.

And he did.

Careful not to smear the runes, he set his lips to hers, nipping at her lower lip with his long, Unseelie fangs. His tongue danced across hers and desire crashed through her body in one great pulse. He tasted like cinnamon and mint and something else that was entirely him, and she never wanted to stop kissing him.

A knock at the door broke them apart.

Teague’s eyes held her gaze as he said to the door, “What is it?”

“The sun has set, High Captain,” the pirate on the other side replied.

Fara’s heart beat frantically and Teague smoothed a thumb over the palm of her hand until her pulse evened out.

“Come in, Renyo,” Teague ordered.

The door creaked open and the spear-throwing pirate gave a head bob. “Captain?”

Teague stood and stepped away from Fara. “What do you see?”

“The purple-skinned Seelie captive, but she’s…” He blinked and rubbed his eyes. “No, she’s gone. Wait. I…” The man grabbed his stomach and grimaced.

“You’re dismissed,” Teague said.

The pirate nodded and left, shutting the door as he went.

Teague turned to Fara. “The illusion isn’t set for him, of course, but he lost sight of you. The kraken chief will see you, and then he will imagine he has swallowed you whole. You will be invisible to him and he will feel a fullness in his great belly.”

Fara stood on shaky legs. “All right. Let’s go cut out the evil of pirates for this generation, at least.”

Teague smiled and the candlelight from his desk twinkled in his eyes. “Thank you for trusting me, my heart.”

She gave him a half-lidded look as she walked past him and opened the door. “The bond gives me no choice, but I’ll take the gratitude anyway, I suppose.”

He was suddenly kissing the back of her neck. His hot breath made her shiver. “I will make it up to you, Fara of the Shrouded Mountains. I can’t wait to hear everything about you. I want to know it all.”

She knew exactly how he felt. Letting her head drop back onto his chest, she let out a sigh. “We have plans to make, but first, we have a sea monster to deal with. Words I never thought I’d say…”

They both chuckled and climbed the steps to the ship’s deck.

It all happened quickly. Fara walked through the suspicious and confused pirates, who made occasional foul remarks about the Seelie. Teague acted at forcing her into the skiff they’d lowered into the eerily calm sea.

The moon rose like a lantern raised for the gods to view the whole world. Its silver beams threw crystals on the water’s surface and made Teague’s eyes dance.

He took her hand. “It’s time.”

She swallowed and did her best to feel the promise of their bond.

The kraken rose from the deep, its eyes monstrous and wet, its tentacles bubbling from the foam. Fara stilled, her heart hanging between her ribs without even the hint of a beat. The night was too quiet. The moon shimmered over the sea monster’s head. Even snow and ice couldn’t compete with the cold whisking over Fara’s exposed skin. Fear or temperature? Both? A pattern of circles and slash marks laced the kraken’s head. This was the ancient chief of the creatures that made their home far below, hiding in the black depths of the strait’s crevasse. He alone possessed the intelligence, as legend states, to claim the female sacrifice and do the bidding of the Beckoner. This being would understand the desire of the Beckoner’s heart…

The moon’s blue-white glow danced across the water, moving like a spirit until it rested on Teague’s chest.

He inhaled sharply and held more firmly to Fara’s hand.

Then he began to speak in the old language, a tongue that was magic in and of itself. His tongue flicked and rolled and clicked along as he spoke his desires to the ancient monster. Each syllable uttered from his lips sent a shiver over Fara, raising the hairs on the back of her neck and forearms. The scent of sage rose into the air.

Fara held so still even though she longed to put her hand over her chest to see if her heart had resumed beating. She would be dead if it hadn’t, so of course, it was. But the feeling of no pulse, no life, remained. She was a spirit herself, floating in stasis, unable to return to the living world and barred from the afterlife.

Teague spoke the last of his wish and the kraken reached three of its massive arms high.

Would his trick work?

Shaking, Fara forced her eyes to remain open. If she was to die like this, she wanted to see the bastard monster’s face as it took her. She was a Healer and Squire of the Shrouded Mountains. She would not cower. Tahlia would be proud. A small smile touched her lips and Teague glanced her way, his eyes wide and a surprised grin on his mouth.

“You’re a wonder,” he whispered.

The kraken’s tentacles wheeled up then down and the monster dove back into the water, his movement rocking the skiff violently. Sparks of golden light flashed beneath the water’s surface, curling into the depths and shooting out of the waves into the sky.

Teague held Fara as they stood, working hard to remain in the craft. Her heart was certainly awake now and hammering away inside her shaking body.

“You did it. Your tricky dark magic worked,” she said.

“Don’t seem so shocked. It’s insulting.”

Fara snorted and gripped Teague’s vest with her trembling fingers. “I’ve known you for two days.”

“Time enough to know I do as I say.”

“Well, I didn’t know the kraken was going to agree with your mad plans.”

He looked out over the raucous waves, the whole area gurgled with activity now. “All the kraken will gather to their chief and end the pirates once and for all.”

“I think we should sail behind them and enjoy front-row seats,” she said, surprising herself with her courage.

A sharp laugh came from him. “You are so vicious. I adore it.”

“What about the men on your lead ship?” The men were already shouting questions and giving congratulations with a tone that hinted strongly at their confusion.

“This is the Beckoner’s only ship now,” Teague whispered to the sea, his cadence like the spell he’d cast over the kraken.

Fara looked from his moonlight profile to the ship.

One black and glistening tentacle shot from the water, wrapped the ship, and cracked it in one quick and violent move. Screams punctured the night and Fara shivered at the pirates’ fate even though they surely deserved that and more for what they’d done to the coastal villages during their lifetimes.