Page 89 of Soul of Fire

The little man jumped as Branka’s eyes flashed furiously gold.

“There is no antidote for mistletoe.” The healer gathered up his bag and began to back away toward the door. “It simply works its way through the system. Life or death depends on the size of the dose ingested, but please find me if the patient takes a turn.”

And with that, he fled from the room.

“Useless human healers,” Jorgen growled. “No wonder the jernblod die so easily.”

“Is that true? You can only heal your mate?” She glanced at me in question, and I nodded mutely. “Then why couldn’t Bryndis heal Sigurd from his mistletoe poisoning?”

“She would have if she could, love.” Jorgen kissed his mate’s temple, a small smile playing about his lips. “Healing a human body is much less complicated than healing a dragon or their bond with a drage.”

“Why would the Norns allow such a fatal flaw in the dragons?” Branka frowned and rested her head on Jorgen’s shoulder. “It was a serious oversight.”

Jorgen laughed, and the sound felt too big and bright for the sick room. “I’m sure you can raise the complaint when we reach Valhalla someday.”

“Where is Ingmar?” It was the first moment I’d realized they weren’t in the room with us. “Was Arne being followed?”

“They didn’t see anyone, so they returned to Ironholm, as ordered.” Jorgen blew out a deep breath, as if steeling himself for the next part of the conversation. “What are your orders for us, Rev?”

I frowned, focused on Arne’s face. He had a faint scar down one cheek that I wanted to touch, and it was taking all of my willpower to keep my hands on my lap.

“You can’t leave him.” It was a statement, not a question, as Branka kneeled beside me. “Do you want us to stay?”

I shook my head. “I can manage.”

“Like hell you can,” Jorgen declared gruffly. “Kindra’s probably all out of juice, and you’re in no state to defend yourself and a comatose man. We’re staying.”

“We owe it to Arik,” Branka agreed, squeezing my wrist. I felt my eyes prick with gratitude, but I couldn’t tear my gaze from Arne. “Why don’t you get some sleep, Rev? I can sit with him.”

I shook my head and swallowed, unable to look at Branka. “I can’t.”

Jorgen grunted, and Branka nodded. “I understand. We…uh…sort of commandeered the room next door. We’ll be there if you need anything. We can figure out the rest in the morning.”

I nodded again, barely paying attention as they slipped out of the room.

This was mymate.Mine. Ours. And I had no idea what he would do when he woke up and learned that I was his.

Chapter twenty-nine

Eisa

Aknockonthebedroom door roused me from my reverie as I contemplated my new reality.

I was Dragonborn. I was going to marry my mate. The necklace around my throat was the tear of a literal goddess, and, somehow, I had to close the Rift.

“Come in,” I called as I worked the comb through the wet knots of my hair.

Arik had been overly optimistic about the possibility of us being handfasted last night. Though Amaya squealed with delight at the suggestion when we finally returned to the temple kitchens, Sigrid had already gone to bed. Even as furious as I was at her secrets, I understood her reasons for them. It just wouldn’t be right to be handfasted without her.

Plus, I’d needed a bath. And sleep. And another bath this morning after Arik spent the early waking hours showing me exactly how he felt about our upcoming handfasting. Again.

Delicious, Idunn purred in draconic satisfaction. She was curled around Baldur so tightly across our mental bridge that I swore I could feel Arik’s every move as he went through his usual training routine on the hill far above us.

Since his return last night, she’d insisted on remaining close to him. She hadn’t even wanted to let Arik go and train this morning, employing all sorts of diabolical–and, I had to admit, enjoyable–tactics to delay him.

Most satisfactory,Baldur agreed sleepily.But I believe we can do better.

Baldur had no memory of the time he had been separated from us. The last thing he remembered was taking the poison into himself as Arik went to his mother’s chambers. Everything had gone dark before he’d had a chance to warn Arik, and he’d only woken when he returned to incorporeal form in Arik’s mind.