Fuck, am I glad I went and got the troll.
Nodding, I let him lead me into the tunnel, twisting and turning down a path I never would’ve found. When we enter a large cave with a pool at its center, I can only stare at the splendor around me. I’ve never been here—had no idea this place even existed—and it’s the most marvelous thing I’ve ever seen.
Reds, oranges, and yellows dominate the walls, light from some unknowable source casting its glow all around to reveal stones of ruby, citrine and topaz. But they can’t compare to the water that sparkles in soft luster. It’s the deepest blue, the color of a jay spinning through the air as the sun casts its first rays on the day.
It also vibrates with magic. I feel as if I could touch the beginning and end of time just by swimming through its waters. All knowledge awaits me if I drink from its plenty. I want nothing more than to drop into it and never leave.
“The pool will prolong and protect.” Toffer’s shy smile accompanies a shove to my back. “Proceed.”
The troll’s strange words shouldn’t make sense, but they do. Whatever is here almost feels sentient. It wants to sustain us. I can’t fathom the possibility we would drown, no matter how long we were submerged.
I take a deep breath regardless, too aware of how easily magic can manipulate our minds. And then I drop into the pool and let myself sink down, following Toffer as he begins to kick deeper and deeper. We swim farther than we should be able to go without breathing, but I’m sure I could go farther still. My chest is light and full of air.
When Toffer leads us into a tube deep below the surface, I feel the magic shift. My lungs start to constrict as my brain registers that I’ve gone minutes without a breath. With every kick, darkness wraps around us and the pressure inside increases. Every part of me is screaming to breathe, even if the water would take my life. I have no idea how Sifa and Joralf could have made it so far, weak as they were.
When I see the light ahead of us—a disc of hope that brightens as I continue to rise—my soul lightens. I throw every bit of myself into this swim, watching as the surface grows closer and closer.
We emerge in a pond on the rear of the mountain, and I suck in a breath, marveling that I’m alive and free of the caves. Tindera’s image floats into my mind, but I push it aside. Right now, I need to get Sifa away from here. I’ll return for my dragon soon.
Toffer and I float on the water and fill our lungs. The moon rests high in the sky above us, bright and full, casting light and shadows on the surface. And then he starts to swim toward the nearby shore. My gaze follows him and a fist unclenches inside me when I find her. She’s waiting, as Toffer said she would be.
Steeling myself for whatever Sifa may do or say to me, I follow Toffer to the shore, watching her as I step from the water, dripping wet but alive. When I’m a dozen feet away, I stop, letting her decide where we go from here. How, or if, we move forward.
She closes the distance between us. Striding forward, she places her hands on my chest, looking up at me with melancholy eyes.
“She hurt me,” Sifa whispers, her voice so soft I can barely hear her words.
“I’m so, so sorry.” What else can I say? I let this happen.
“You were supposed to be there. You left.”
“I didn’t know she would do that to you. She said she wouldn’t, and I believed her. Then my thoughts couldn’t get to you while you wore the manacle. I didn’t feel your pain.” I drop my forehead to rest against hers, my hands wrapping around her waist. “She’ll never hurt you again. I swear it.”
“I don’t think you can promise that, Fhord.” Her hand lifts to caress my cheek, her eyes searching mine. “Did you mean it?” she whispers with a glance down and then back up at me. “That I hold part of your soul?”
I place my hand on hers, the other reaching out to cup her cheek. “Before the dragons, the Dróttning and the draugrs,” I tell her with a hint of a smile as I glance at Toffer, “before the gods breathed this world into being and gifted us the lifeblood that flows through us, before the mountains rose and the oceans formed, before magic filled this land and all its beings, there was you and me. We have always been and we always will be. You are the sunrise in my day, the air I breathe, the reason I exist. I didn’t know what it was to live before you. There is no after. I don’t want a life without you. Ever. Whatever the price to be with you, I will pay it.”
The look she gives me is glorious. Her heart peers back at me, open and pure.
And my savage rejoices. I can feel him expanding out, ready to take over and take her.
Holy fuck. I need this. I need her. I tried to deny it, to push her away. I’ve lied to myself every single day since I met her. But I can’t hide from it anymore.
“I want this, my little rabbit—I want you—more than I’ve ever wanted anything, anyone. But you have to know what this will mean. To me. To us.”
Sifa cocks her head, her hands ghosting over my arms as the corners of her lips lift. She rises to brush those lips against mine. “What would this mean to you, Fhord?”
Something opens inside me, a dragon discovering the joy of flight, a wave flowing through the open sea, a star suspended in the sky, beaming its light across the universe. My savage soothes as I embrace the destiny he’s demanded since I laid eyes on Sifa.
“When you’re mine, there will be no other. I’m not a good male, rabbit. I will hunt … I will destroy … anyone and anything that would come between us, that would hurt you, or try to take you from me. When you give yourself to me, Sifa, you give it all to me. Every part of you. Everything you will ever do or be. You’ll be mine. And I’ll be yours. Forever.”
Sifa doesn’t shrink from me as I claim and open myself to her. Holding my gaze, her hands caress my chest and then lift to my cheeks as she pulls my lips down to hers. She doesn’t respond with words. Maybe she’s not ready yet to love me the way I love her, after everything she’s been through. But it’s enough for now.
Chapter thirty
Sifa
Did I Please You, Rabbit?
