Page 22 of To Sway a Prince (Tempting Thieves)

22

MY CONFESSION

L ightning split the sky as I stared across the stone bridge into the chasm. My tongue burned with the taste and scent of magic and fire.

Ramiel stood at the center of the bridge's edge, his silver hair whipping in the wind as he faced the thrashing leviathan. The massive creature's scales gleamed wet with the purple mist that clung to his body. The bone fae spear jutted from his shoulder, the wound raw and festering. Part of the spear shaft had been severed, and fresh blood stained the stones and dyed the mist. Progress, but not enough.

Great rips threatened to tear further across the entirety of the Chasm, moving like waves of jelly beneath churning smoke.

Eight of the dragons worked in quads, their wings beating in perfect synchrony as they carried glowing rune strands between them. The magical threads shimmered silver, weaving an intricate pattern across the Chasm's surface, trying to stitch up the tears.

They were failing.

Badly.

Whatever pattern they sought to make frayed. The leviathan's constant movement weakened the barrier of the Chasm with each twist and spiral. The dragons strained against the howling wind and the bubbling of the Chasm. Even from this distance, I could see three chasm wraiths trying to press through. Burning yellow eyes glowed within the Chasm at multiple intervals, pressing at the clear layer separating them from the rest of our realm.

Thalorion, Giselle, and Veyruneth tried to hold the leviathan in place with ropes of energy, but each time the leviathan twisted, one or two lost their grip, the rope either fraying in their mouths or slipping from their jaws.

Zephyrus launched skyward, his wings unfurling to their full span. The force nearly knocked me over. He joined Giselle and snatched up one of the fallen ropes, his dark-blue scales stark against her purple. Together they slammed the energy ropes taut, forcing the leviathan down against the bridge. Half its massive body hung in the Chasm, half sprawled across the stone. It was far larger than the forty feet I'd originally estimated. Its head alone was the size of a small dragon. He bellowed, lightning sparking from his jaws and making his eyes light up until they were yellow gold instead of deep orange.

The Chasm bubbled even more fiercely beneath them, purple mist rising in thick spiraling columns. Where the mist touched the bridge, it hissed and steamed. Through the fog, I saw another chasm wraith pushing against that invisible barrier, their elongated fingers clawing at the air.

Yellow-eyed creatures darted between the larger wraiths, their bodies little more than shadows as they tested the barrier for weaknesses. A few bat-like creatures escaped and swept along the ridge. Three of the dragons broke formation and dealt with them immediately. The runes faded in the air.

Ramiel dropped to one knee, his hands glowing with silver light as he traced runes in the air. His movements were sluggish. His shoulders sagged with exhaustion. The silver magic around his fingers flickered like a dying flame. He twisted his hands. The runes he carved into the air trembled, hanging there as the dragons returned to their formations and seized them. Then he cut new healing runes, his hands shaking as he formed them in front of the leviathan.

A column of dark smoke rose from the Chasm's edge. It twisted unnaturally, defying the wind's direction. The smell hit me next: burning metal. It was building slowly.

The omenfang was coming. We didn't have much time left.

I sprinted toward the bridge, rain striking my face.

Remnants of runes sparked and faded against the earth and the mist. The runes he now carved wavered and flared.

The leviathan thrashed against his bonds, his massive tail whipping across the stone bridge, sending fragments of rock into the churning abyss. Zephyrus and his trio worked to keep the leviathan down. Up above, the other dragons struggled to maintain their weaving pattern.

I skidded to a stop a few feet away and lifted my hands. Though I certainly didn't recognize all of these runes, I knew how to strengthen them. That was just as simple as tracing his pattern with my own energy.

Gold light flared from my hands. I channeled it up into the runes he had formed, sealing their bonds and strengthening him. The jarring from my encounter with the chasm wraith and the heavy use to pulseport here even with the fairy ring slowed my response, but I focused on my magic and forced it up into those runes and to support him.

Ramiel's shoulders tightened. He started to hinge his gaze back, but the leviathan roared again. "Ithoks—" He swore, the words distorted by the wind and bellows.

The runes turned silver and gold, marbling with both, pulsing with life. Our energy twisted together.

The leviathan bucked and flung his head back once more.

Ramiel curled his fingers and sliced his hand through the air. The glowing runes snapped forward, striking the wound and the broken spear. The spear wrenched up. Blood spilled, splashing on the stone. A chunk of the wood snapped off, the swelling immediately reducing. Green smoke coiled up from it, fading in the wild winds.

Another pained bellow escaped the leviathan's jaws, and he dove back. He snapped at the nearest of the chasm wraiths that had gotten free. He dragged it with him on the way down, lightning bolts flaring around his jaws. He roared again, a terrifying tremulous quality to his voice as if he were trying to communicate something.

Ramiel cut new runes into the air. The dragons seized them and resumed weaving the Chasm shut. He spun to face me. "What are you doing here?" he bellowed. His hair fell back down to his shoulders, only slightly ruffled and tousled despite the wind. He strode toward me, a vein throbbing in his forehead and neck.

"You were saying it from the start, weren't you?" I braced my hands on my sash, meeting his gaze unflinching. So many emotions twisted within me, I could scarcely stand it.

"Saying what? To get out? Yes! You need to go elsewhere. Anywhere but here." He sliced his hand across the air and pointed to the tower. "Go inside. Wait for me there, and then we'll talk."

I lifted my chin. My voice shook. "Nat. You've called me 'nat' from the beginning. And I thought you were mocking me at first. Teasing me later on. But that was never it, was it? You were telling me who I was to you."

He halted, his jaw working. He braced his hands on his broad belt. When he spoke, his voice was low and rough. "Astraia, it doesn't matter. This is not how it should be. This isn't right."

"I helped you, didn't I?" I lifted my chin. "We work well together. If you had any doubts, and I don't think you actually do, you just saw proof for why we should be together right here. Our magic blends well. We strengthen one another. I am stronger with you, and you are stronger with me. We both make each other better."

That muscle along his jaw jumped, his gaze fixed on me hard. "I don't know what you think you know, but if you don't leave?—"

"If I don't leave, what?" I narrowed my eyes at him, daring him. "What will you do? Show me, rune fae."

His expression hardened, his shoulders tensing even more. His eyes darkened. Something wild and desperate flashed across his face—he lunged forward, closing the distance between us in a single step. His hands caught my face, fingers threading into my hair as he yanked me against him. His mouth crashed down on mine, hard and hungry and desperate.

I gasped against his lips, shock freezing me for half a breath before heat flooded my body. My hands fisted in his tunic, pulling him closer as I kissed him back with everything I had. The taste of him—frosted silver, cinnamon, yeast, and cedar—flooded my senses.

"Astraia," he growled against my mouth, the word vibrating through me. His arms wrapped around my waist, lifting me off my feet as he deepened the kiss.

My fingers found the suppression charm hanging at his throat. I ripped it free, casting it aside.

Magic exploded between us—wild, ancient, and overwhelming. Somehow the mate bond roared to life, a brilliant golden thread weaving our souls together. I cried out as the sensation crashed through me. Ramiel's arms tightened, keeping me close as he pressed his forehead against mine, his breathing ragged.

"I tried," he whispered, voice breaking. "By all that is good and holy, I tried to keep you safe from this. I tried to protect you. I couldn't let anything happen to you. Yes, I knew from the start. You are my mate. You are the one I love more than any other who walks this world. But to be with me is to embrace death. I didn't want to do that to you. I've failed."

"You haven't failed." I clung to him, fingers curling into the fabric of his surcoat. "Whatever comes next, we'll find a way through. But I wouldn't trade all the safety and all the security in the world for this. What I want is you."

The bond between us pulsed and strengthened, years of longing and loneliness washing away in its golden light. I could feel him—his pain, his fear, his love—it beat as clearly as my heart. My shoulder pulsed, throbbing as if recognizing the violation I'd wrought against my own body all those years ago. I kept myself from grimacing, but somehow he noticed and cupped his hand along my cheek.

"You're in pain as well?"

"It's the mate bond…" I bit the inside of my lip, shaking my head. The sensation within me had taken on an unsettling sensation. "As we're bonding, it's like it's trying to reform. It's not coming together as quickly as it should, but…it is coming back."

He glanced around as the dragons continued their patrol. Another two yellow-eyed creatures clambered out, wings flapping clumsily. Giselle snapped them up in a single bite. Zephyrus landed over another rift and bellowed into it as if in warning. The other dragons followed similar patterns. Thalorion took up a position over the bulge in the surface where a chasm wraith tried to press through. He hissed and then roared, fire licking from his jaws. "The dragons are keeping a steady guard. The leviathan will likely return within the hour. I wasn't able to cure him or soothe the pain at all. Let me help you."

"But the omenfang?—"

He pressed his finger against my lips, his brow knitting though there was such a heat in his eyes it made me melt. "Do you think I care what the omenfang will do to me in the future? My mate is in pain now. Should I not comfort her?"

Well…if he was going to put it like that. My stomach somersaulted.

He guided me to sit on a large stone. The spitting rain had stopped, the Chasm calming and the wind dying down. The dark storm clouds remained, but the setting sun turned them gold. Gently, he tugged at my sleeve, moving it down enough to reveal my shoulder.

I shivered, the air cool against my skin as well as his touch. His brow creased as he studied the scar. "You burned yourself deeply."

I bit back a wince. "I wanted to protect my mate."

That small nod of his said he understood. "You did this to yourself? You didn't have someone else do it?" He frowned more, his fingers tracing the lines of the scars gently. When I nodded, his brow tweaked further. He traced three runes onto the scar tissue, then leaned down and kissed them. "Nat."

Warmth flooded me, and my insides twisted to hear that name. "My heart." My fingertips grazed his collarbone where the charm once lay.

His eyes shuttered, a low groan escaping his lips. His throat bobbed. "Astraia…"

"Natoumai ahme vahre, Ramiel." I flattened my hand to his chest.

He pressed his hand over mine. "Natoumai ahme vahre, Astraia…I am yours."

"And I am yours."

"I don't know how long I have to offer you," he continued, leaning closer. The tip of his nose traced along the line of my cheek before he settled against me, arms tight about my waist. "I don't see how I survive this, but I want you to know that I have loved you since the day I saw you. You were—are everything I could have hoped for."

"As are you. And you come with dragons." I rubbed my forehead against his. My eyelashes brushed his skin as I tilted my head back and kissed him again. That little quaver of fear returned. I had suffered loss. I did not want to experience it again. "So have faith that we can make it. Don't give up on yourself."

"So long as you survive this, I will be at peace." He brought both my hands to his lips.

I winced again as the pain stabbed my shoulder once more. Curse it all! Our mate bond still wasn't fully connecting. Like all mate bonds, it was transforming both of us but slower. So much slower than it should. The scarring on my shoulder from the scourging had not faded. It throbbed and pulsed as if I had just been stabbed.

His brow furrowed with concern once more. "I suspect that asking you to let me do this alone won't work. So I ask for another compromise. Don't go near the Chasm itself. Not any closer than you are now. The leviathan will likely breach again soon. And I will finish healing the wounds. I think that this last time will be sufficient. The spear is almost completely removed. But if we can get through that, the omenfang will be here. Even with you loosening the bonds, I will soon reach the tipping point."

"Then let me get as many knots free as I can. I can loosen them more and get you more time. More space to draw up your power and push it back. And the mate bond will strengthen us both! If we can just get you more time, that will be enough. I can even distract the omenfang if it comes for me again."

"No," he said firmly, holding my hands tighter. "Astraia, my curse was passing into you. Those threads were trying to become a part of you as they became a part of me." He clasped my hands between his. "That's why I sent you away. I realized that if you continued to help me, the curse was going to pass into you and I didn't know that I could separate it or save you."

"I—I don't care," I said. "Ramiel, you can't ask me to just let you die."

"I might not. You loosened the bonds and took the brunt of its attack the last time. That bought me time."

"Why can't we just destroy the omenfang then?" My voice shook. "There—there has to be a way. We've come this far. And?—"

"The only way I know to destroy the omenfang is to remove all the points of the curse within me. Even if there was enough time, I could not risk it when your life would be on the line as well."

"So your plan is just to die?"

He kept his hand at my cheek, his expression softening. "No. You bought me time. I'll heal the leviathan. The dragons will help weave the rifts shut, and we will hope that the madness from the pain passes enough for the dragons to be able to tell the leviathan what we are doing and get him to help us again with driving back the others. And if I am able, then I will contend with the omenfang. If we get through that, we will celebrate. If I do not make it and my physical form falls into the Chasm, command the dragons to stay out of the Chasm. You must do that to save them."

The roar of the leviathan shattered the stillness. We were out of time.