Page 2 of The Kraken Bride

He wore a simple tunic and black leathers, casual, almost careless. Black gloves covered his hands.

When he lifted one of those gloved hands, I followed the motion and landed on his gaze.

My whole world fractured as sharp, blinding heat slammed into my chest, punching the air from my lungs. This man looked as if he’d stepped from the pages of my favorite romance novel. The last thing a careful woman should want, and every reckless thing she should forever deny wanting.

Inside me, my dragon surged, flame and instinct roaring awake after a too-long sleep. Every part of me—and her—demanded I look closer at this man. To step forward. To claim him in front of everyone.

Then a single word whispered across my mind and branded itself in the center of my chest. Firebrand.

I shook my head. Nein. Not him. Anyone but Sebastian Mórisi.

Across the ring, he went rigid, as if he’d heard my thoughts or experienced his own.

His jaw locked. His hands tightened at his sides, his fingers curling before relaxing again.

Around him, the faintest ripple passed through the stones, as if Sebastian had released some sort of power no one else could see or sense.

My heart thundered. My skin burned. Realization hit me harder than anything else.

Ja. He felt it, too.

I broke eye contact first. Stared at the grass. The scarred stone. Anything but him. The urge to flee warred with the need to stay.

Feel the floor. Feel the air. A mantra I repeated before ever taking a stage to dance for thousands of cheering fans.

This was a vote. Not fate.

“Sebastian,” Callen prompted. “You are our deciding vote.”

Please. Say ja.

A pause. Then, “Nei,” the kraken king said. No.

The word fell like a blade, sealing the verdict. I jerked my gaze to the manticore’s stone, hoping…

Still absent.

So it was done. Inter-faction marriages would remain restricted, save for special alliances approved by the royals. Disappointment clogged my chest as the future I’d imagined receded, leaving only frustration in its wake.

Protests erupted, voices clashing, but I barely heard them. I didn’t look at the kraken king again. Didn’t dare. I’d reacted so strongly to him before the vote. Now that he’d murdered my dream, I didn’t want to see him.

Except…

I really, really did. But when I looked, he’d already vanished from his doorway.

As the meeting dissolved and the power from the stones ebbed, I remained frozen, my breath shallow. So the vote hadn’t gone my way. That just meant the “yes” was delayed, not impossible. Someone, somewhere, would change their mind. I just had to convince them.

Or him, specifically. The kraken. He might be the toughest challenger, but he also might be the easiest. Because he’d reacted to me, too.

Nervousness fluttered in my stomach at the thought of going head-to-head with him, but my determination solidified. This must be done. For the kingdoms.

I turned away from the traveling stones, one new truth burning brighter than the dragonfire in my veins: If Sebastian was my firebrand…

Fate was no gift. It was a curse with tentacles.

Chapter

One