Theo growled at my side, and I elbowed him gently.“This isn’t the time to piss off a god, sweetie.”
He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.“I don’t give a shit if we piss him off,honey. I’m over his antics. We didn’t even need him to begin with.”
“So everything you put us through was just a game to you?” I asked, my voice filling with venom. All of the anguish and fear we’d felt and overcome. It was all for his twisted pleasure. “Instead of telling us that to begin with, you forced us through your trials?”
“You can judge me all you want, mortal, but until you know the feeling of eternity, your opinion means nothing to me,” he defended, eyes narrowing at the clear judgment in my tone. “Though you may not see it, my actions weren’t entirely selfish. I navigated you into scenarios in which your true devotion was put to the test, paving the way for you to get exactly what you needed in the end.”
Theo cut in as my mouth opened, effectively silencing the tirade I was ready and willing to go on. “Was Sia ever in true danger from the ember dragon?”
The undine god chuckled darkly at that before turning and walking back up to the throne, seeming to grow bored of us already. “No. It was a figment of my imagination, as is everything in this territory that you can see. It may have seemed real at the time, but I can’t create embers, only undines.”
It was such a simple truth that I kicked myself mentally for not realizing that in the moment. I’d been so focused onthe safety of Kaida and keeping Theo whole that nothing else crossed my mind.
“That sword was never long enough to pierce through to a real dragon’s brain. It simply stopped because we had achieved my intended results at that point.”
I bit down on my lip hard enough to draw blood, the warm metallic liquid dripping into my mouth and spreading across my tongue. I’d given that battle everything I had. Although Theo had jumped down in the end, I’d carried such a sense of pride in thinking I’d slain the beast.
To find out it wasn’t true was a staggering blow to my ego.
“Now if you don’t mind, I’m being summoned by another elemental, who claims to have found a witch for us all to watch.”
He was so nonchalant, proving once again that we were all just playthings for the gods. For the first time, I wished myself a witch, so that I could curse him to feel all of the heartache, the entire gambit of emotions, he’d needlessly put us through, just to find out in the end that we were pawns simply being used for entertainment.
Theo tensed at my side. “Is the one who set the curse on the drackya of Andrathya still a threat to us? You owe us that answer, at the very least.”
A swirling portal appeared in front of the elemental as he glanced over his shoulder at us once more. “No, she was the last undine witch to die.” He stepped to the side, gesturing toward the portal. “Now, I’d suggest you leave before I decide I don’t like either of your tones and decide to keep you here as I’ve done with the previous visitors I’ve received.”
His words were like a jolt of lightning to my chest, but it was a heavy reminder that we’d never heard of anyone returning from Sanctum. As much as a fiery hatred for this elemental burned within me, we were all still allowed to leave, and for that I owed him my gratitude.
“Let us depart,”Kaida urged, nudging me forward with his large head.
He didn’t have to tell me twice as the heavy glare of the god had me tugging Theo up the steps. As we passed by him, our eyes met, and I found myself hoping that I’d never have to stare into them again. It felt like a miracle to be walking out of here with our lives. Because something in my gut told me that if we ever saw the undine god again, that wouldn’t be the case.
I gave into the swirling sensation of weightlessness in the portal, holding on tightly to Theo’s hand as I closed my eyes and waited to feel the ground beneath my feet once more. A bright white light flashed before I heard the crackling of a fireplace. My eyes opened, taking in the now-familiar chamber before Theo tugged me to him and lifted me up. I wasted no time in wrapping my legs around his waist and burying my face in his neck, though I found myself missing the small scales that used to be there.
“We did it,” I whispered against his skin. “We’re home.”
A huff of air blanketed us, and Theo turned us as I glanced over at Kaida sitting politely to the side, like he was waiting his turn. We looked back at each other and dissolved into laughter as Theo slowly lowered me to the ground before pressing a kiss to my forehead.
“Such a cock-block, still.”
I walked over to Kaida, giving him scratches and a kiss between his eyes until a throat cleared behind me. Kaida’s snout nudged me to turn, though my brow scrunched together in confusion as I did.
With the light streaming in from the balcony, basking us all in the early morning glow cresting on the horizon, Theo dropped to one knee.
“I know this is a little late and more than backwards, seeing as we’re bonded already,” Theo hedged nervously as his cheeksflushed. His hand raised up, a dazzling sapphire ring pinched between his fingers. “But I wanted to know if you will marry me, willingly this time?”
I closed the distance between us and dropped to my knees, grabbing his face and pulling his lips to mine.
“I couldn’t think of anything I want more."
Epilogue
SIYANA
Seven years later…
“You know the laws,” I growled out with the tip of my blade pressed to his throat, not pulling back as he swallowed hard, making the sharp edge of my blade draw a thin line of crimson to the surface.
