Page 57 of To Sway a Prince
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 mycheek 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.
23
THE THREAD
Ramiel whirled, one arm clasped around me as he faced the bridge. The leviathan thrashed against the largest of the rifts in the Chasm, desperate to get out and tearing it even more. A sour, bitter scent filled the air, mixing with the sharp tang of magic.
The barrier twisted and bulged against his movements, and the spear in his shoulder glowed with remnants of the healing energy. The poor creature flailed. His deep-orange eyes met mine. Madness surged in those eyes. If only I could tell him we were trying to help.
I locked into place, the creature's agony brutal and vivid. He flung his head back once more and bellowed. Lightning exploded around his jaws. The air near his head rippled as if he distorted it, and the Chasm's barrier rippled more and more.
Ramiel scanned the Chasm as the dragons circled above, his expression grim. "This is our last chance. Don't come any closer to the Chasm, Astraia."
I scoffed. "I won't come near the Chasm, but I won't abandon you either. We're in this together, Ramiel."
He opened his mouth to answer.
A thunderous crack split the air as the leviathan slammed against the bridge. Stone crumbled beneath his weight.
Strange flying creatures shot up from the smaller tears. They scattered in all directions. The dragons swooped down and chased after them. The thunder of their wings intensified as the wind picked up.
I braced myself against the wind as Ramiel strode back to the edge of the bridge, his silver hair whipping around his shoulders. The Chasm roiled beneath, purple mist churning like an angry sea. Each movement of the massive creature sent waves of energy pulsing through the air.
