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Chapter33
Reagan
My mate led the way through the castle, turning corners and winding down hallways, holding my hand as I trailed behind him. After days spent in the forest, the bedroom, and well, pretty much everywhere, the heat had subsided. Whatever feral hunger had taken over me was sated, for now at least.
“Why are we in the throne room?” I asked, my steps faltering as we entered through a door I didn’t know existed.
“To get to the staircase we need.”
“How many secret passages do you have in this place? It’s like playing a game of Clue.” When he looked at me in question, I shook my head. “Never mind. Not important.”
An unassuming door was across the room, and we headed straight for it. I would have guessed it was a broom closet, but as soon as he opened it, a long, dark stairwell came into view.
I came to a sudden stop, feeling like I was having a moment of déjà vu. Our interlaced fingers tugged, almost breaking our hold.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, glancing between me and the stairwell. “It’s harmless. Just a private exit.”
Of course it was. Forcing a smile, I exhaled a shaky breath. The sensation that I had felt or seen this place before wouldn’t dissipate, but I did my best to shake it off. “I’ve seen a lot of movies. Usually stairs like this led to giant spiders, or a room filled with skulls and torture devices.”
“Nah,” he said, walking down slowly. “Demon spiders are through a different door.”
I laughed, taking each step with hesitation as I dragged my fingers along the stone walls. “And the skulls and torture devices?”
“A little bit of each in every room. Never know when the need will arise, and the last thing you want to do is travel all the way down to the dungeon. Really, Reagan, it’s only practical.”
I appreciated his casual humor. It made my nerves feel slightly more at ease as I started down the stairs.
Once we got to the bottom, he held my hand again, before pushing the door open.
A long, black sand beach spanned before us. The sound of waves crashing on the shore filled my ears. The salty scent of the air shocked me.
“What . . . ?” I began, but I halted when I couldn’t find the words. Right before me, a black sand beach reached for a dark ocean beneath a starlit sky with two moons.
“Come,” he said, urging me onto the sand. “I wanted you to see this.”
My balance was off as I tried to get good footing in the sand, but with each step, I sunk a little. Running in this would be awful. After we’d walked forward, I started to turn around and Caius stopped me.
“Not yet,” he said quickly. “Just a little further.”
Finally, we stopped. He placed his hands on my shoulders, looking behind me and finally nodding. “Okay, turn around.”
I wanted to, but I couldn’t help myself from staring at him for a moment longer, wondering what he was so excited about. His smile was wide, and it met his eyes. When I turned slowly, my entire world suddenly shifted.
I wasn’t prepared.
A dark castle built into the side of a mountain, merging as one unit. Two tall towers with spires complemented each other on opposite sides. The ocean splashed against the rocky cliffs, sending its spray misting into the air.
It’s beauty wasn’t what took my breath away. It was that I’d been here before. A hundred times. A thousand. There’s no way he could have known that this was the place I’d dreamed of.
Silence stole my words for a moment before I asked, “How did I not see this? We left the castle to go into the village. It didn’t look like this.”
“You haven’t been to this side. Also? No one can see it.” He answered, a sense of happiness in his voice. “It’s where I come to be alone and think. The beach is warded, so no one ever comes here except me. And Styx, sometimes, when her kelpie needs to let off steam.”
“Why did you bring me here?”
“I thought you might like it,” he said, each word getting slower as he began to sound unsure if he’d made the right call. “It’s not Danni’s castle, but I wanted you to see what it looks like when the mountains meet the ocean. Or volcano, in this case.”
“It’s . . . amazing.” What an underwhelming word for such a grand moment, but it was all I had. He breathed a short sigh of relief, and all I could do was nod. My hands were shaking, and I was trying to process what was happening.
