Page 56 of To Sway a Prince
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."
