“I should have probably mentioned this sooner,” Kellan murmured as he crossed his arms. “But I’ve already taken the elixir this year.”
I tilted my head, my brows pinching.
“It renders me unable to father children, at least for several months,” he explained, a single brow arching. “The effectiveness wears off before the end of a year, or so I’m told.”
I blinked. “Oh. Well,that’sconvenient. Can women take it?”
“I don’t believe so,” he replied, shaking his head. “Something about unwanted side effects.”
“I’ll probably still brew this then.” I nodded, examining the tea leaves. “Just to be certain.”
He nodded in agreement, and relief flooded me. Kellan’s hand squeezed my shoulder, and he brushed a kiss against my temple before moving to the stove. He heated some water and plucked a handful of biscuits from the counter before turning back to me. I slid into the chair at the small table as he lit the few tapers in the center.
My eyes traveled over the handsome lines of his face, the marbled gray in his dark eyes glowing gold in the light of the flames. His pinched brows formed two lines between them, and his shoulders remained tense as he shook off his blue coat and slipped it over a chair. Skin peeked beneath his black shirt as he set the table for a midnight snack.
“What’s bothering you?” I asked as he moved through the kitchen.
His jaw unclenched as his eyes landed on me, and he paused, leaning against the smooth wooden countertop. He ran a hand over his face before pressing his palms against the edge of the counter.
“Aside from the fact that there are three gods hunting you?” he asked, cocking his head. The edge of sarcasm riding his tone did little to quell the anxiety in his gaze.
“Well, I think they’re huntingallof us,” I replied through a sigh, the ache in my lower abdomen deepening at the mention of the threat we faced.
“Sintarrak has been watching you for two years now,” Kellan said quietly. “Ganmira and Renova tried to kill you on Kayj. They are here for you.”
My stomach pitched as I recalled the battle outside of the arch, and a rush of nightmares swarmed at the thought… Their rage at Kellan’s attack… His face when they killed him…
“I’m here, Lyvia,” he said quietly as he moved to where I sat, kneeling on the ground. “You brought me back. And I’m not going anywhere.”
His fingers slipped a stray strand of hair away from my face, and the knot eased.
“Olienna said the Bellators’ powers are but asliverof what the Embodied hold…” I said quietly. “And it’s true. The power I felt from Ganmira and Renova was infinitely stronger than what we threw at them. So why do they care so much? Why are they so focused on finding us and taking back that power, if it’s just a small amount?”
Kellan’s frown deepened, and he shook his head. “There’s something we’re missing,” he concluded.
“They killed Carina.” The words felt unbearably small as they left my lips. The corners of my eyes pricked, and I blinked to keep the tears from forming. “I couldfeeltheir wrath on Kayj…” I shook my head as grief and fear collided in a paralyzing force inside my chest. “Their wrath is ariver… It is a current, Kellan. I am so scared it will roll over any bridges we build…upend the vessels we sail in… I don’t know how we are going to?—”
Kellan’s hand appeared on my jaw, his thumb and fingers gently turning my face toward him. His eyes skipped between my own as he leaned in.
“Their wrathpaleswhen compared to the rage they’ve built within me, Bonscaíh. If their wrath is a river, then mine is the sea. And I will wash away their very existence when they come for you.”
As his words settled in the space between us, the power in Kellan’s eyes seared away the fear and grief tightening my chest. It replaced it with a blade forged of love and vengeance. Because Ganmira and Renova weren’t just coming for me…
They were coming for Kellan.
He’d beaten them back in that cave on Kayj. He’d prevented them from entering our realm, from getting to me, because there was no doubt in my mind that if he had not attacked with the rubelline daggers, they would have destroyed us all then and there.
And now, a sea rose within me, a renewed determination and will to protect the man I loved, the family I’d gained, and the realm I called home.
Kellan read the emotions in my face as if he were reading a book, the fierceness in his eyes softening into confidence. The shrill whistle of the teapot snapped me back into the kitchen, and he stood.
My eyes wandered over the strip of skin where his shirt had parted, and he smirked, the white of his scar lightening and his dark brow arching. My thighs pressed together despite the tormenting ache in my abdomen. Heat slid to the center of that ache, and for a moment, I forgot it was there as Kellan’s tongue slid over his lips before he moved to the stove.
“What news from the forge?” I asked as my eyes snagged on his coat. Hanging on the chair across from me, bits of ash and soot clung to the lapels. The loamy scent of the barren teaslipped into my nose as he poured the steaming water into a mug. His eyes lingered on my lips as he turned around.
“They’re close,” he answered, handing me the mug.
Warmth seeped into my hands, and I took a deep inhale before bringing the cup to my lips.
