Page 99 of The Keeper of the Kingdoms

“At least no one else here can tell.” She glanced around to make sure.

I smoothed a hand down my tunic, stopping above my belt, not sorry it emphasized my hard-on. Her gaze followed the path of my hand, and she swallowed hard.

“Arsehole.” She pushed her hair out of her face, squeezing her thighs together. “I need to go ask them to pull these texts.” She turned on her heel and left without another word.

I went back to read the entire chapter of the tome she’d brought to get a better grasp on the idea of it. I wished Emrys was here. He’d have a wealth of knowledge of the old ways since they weren’t banned at home like they were in the TwelveKingdoms. He may even know more about severing bonds without having to do all this research.

Could I contact him? Did I dare risk sending a raven?

What if we were over-complicating this and Kerani had the answers readily available? I could fly there and be back in a matter of days with an answer, but what if the elders didn’t let me leave? Kiera may spend the rest of her life looking for me while I was kept from her.

I couldn’t risk it, even if it could solve our issue.

“It will be a couple of hours before they have time to send someone to the tunnels to find what we need.”

“The tunnels? Is this place even bigger?”

“You can’t even imagine. There are centuries of history here.”

I opened my mouth to tell her of the great library Kerani boasts, but the blood in my veins boiled, heating as the words died on my tongue. My throat cut off like a cord coiled around it.

Kiera raised a brow. “Are you okay?”

I faked a sneeze. “Pardon me.”

“May the Goddess keep you.”

“Thank you.” I wiped my nose. “Lost my train of thought there. Sorry, what were we talking about?” I said, knowing full well what had happened. I’d pushed the blood oath too far. I’d have to be much more careful around Kiera.

“About the tunnels. We’ll just have to wait.”

“Can we go retrieve it ourselves?” I was desperate to not only change the subject but get away from the slip that nearly cost me my life.

“I don’t see why not…” Kiera said but I was too far gone in my head to process what she said fully.

I had to be more careful, especially with my mate. My secrets were an extreme I never would have agreed to had I known I’d end up with this kind of bond before I left the Kerani. But I couldn’thave known. Mates were rare where I was from. Certainly not something I could have expected. And now I was supposed to walk this tightrope between truths, risking Kiera’s trust and my life.

She returned moments later with a lantern and a set of keys. “The tunnel network is vast, and I’m not well versed on how it’s organized, so it may take some time if we aren’t in the right place…” Kiera trailed off, and I looked at her, trying to process what she’d said. “Jaxus?”

“Sorry, I’m just thinking through what I read.” I met her gaze, forcing a tight smile to my lips. “Can you handle the walk?”

“I feel worlds better than I did.” She led the way to the stairs down but didn’t stop on the ground floor, using the key in a slot in the rail to open a dark staircase.

I swallowed back the claustrophobia that I knew was coming, but it never did because, after a flight of darkness, we came out into a vast chamber.

When she’d said tunnels, I hadn’t been expecting vast vaulted ceilings and huge, well-lit rooms. I’d expected dark and dank. I didn’t know why. Everything I’d experienced in the Forest Kingdom had far surpassed my expectations.

No wonder none of the healers wanted to leave this place. With the wealth of resources and no oversight, they largely governed themselves, much like my own people. Why give this up for the King’s ideals and whims?

Obviously, not all of the kingdoms were united fully behind his rule like he thought. The healers knew their value to the King and the realm, and they used that as a currency in their negotiations. They had leveraged some autonomy with their vital skills. It was admirable, really, when everyone else just seemed to fall in line. It would be useful information for Nyx in his future planning.

“How big is this place, and how deep are we going?” I askedwhen we passed through another hidden door, bringing us down to a far larger chamber under the first.

“These are old water reservoirs. Before the city had levies and pumps, they held all the water they needed here, but when the rivers changed, they were left empty.” She smiled. “There are others, but I think this is where we need to be.”

I looked up, forgetting the ceiling was there for a moment, wanting to know how many stairs we’d come down and if Kiera would be able to handle the return trip. “Where to?” I glanced around, realizing that other than a gradual spiraled walkway down, there was no way to reach the walls of materials.

“The keys.” Her eyes glinted as she twisted the key into another hidden slot, just like a child given her own library, only this one had moving magical staircases. I stared in awe.