Page 84 of Drown Me Gently

Ulric didn’t respond with words, but with a pleading look. A look begging Auren not to ask him that exact question.

“Sit with me,” Ulric said, and whether he wanted to talk or because he could no longer bring himself to stand, he settled himself in the sand. Auren sat beside him, leaning his head on Ulric’s shoulder without putting too much of his weight there.

“I can convince the courts, Ulric… and even if I can’t, then— I’d run away with you,” Auren said in a whisper, but by the hitch in the Kraken’s breath, he knew Ulric had heard him.

The Kraken exhaled, the sound low and rough, like something being dragged from the deep. He didn’t look at Auren when he spoke.

“I thought I could carry it,” he said, voice strained. “Bury it. Bear it alone without allowing it to burden your shoulders. But after everything…” He finally turned, meeting Auren’s gaze. “I can’t.”

Auren searched those endless obsidian eyes.

Ulric leaned closer, his voice mixing with the song of crashing waves.

“I need you to know,” he said. “Before anything else happens… that I’m in love with you.”

Auren’s throat tightened. His first instinct was joy. Then terror.

Because Ulric didn’t say things like that.

Not unless he thought there wasn’t time to say it again.

Auren swallowed hard. “I’m in love with you, too.”

He reached out, cupped Ulric’s cheek, and felt the faint warmth of him beneath his palm. A stinging invaded his eyes, and he hated it for blackening this moment. But there was something here with them—something dark and lurking, ready to snatch this moment away, and Auren felt like he was fighting it blind.

“But why do you sound like you’re saying goodbye?”

Ulric gave a soft, bitter smile. “Because I don’t know what tomorrow holds.”

“Don’t,” Auren said sharply. “Don’t say that. I won’t let them tear us apart, Ulric. No matter what Atlantis has to say, I’ll be here. By your side.”

“I know,” Ulric said, leaning into his touch. “But I had to tell you… just in case.”

He took Auren’s hand and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. “I’ll fight for every breath,” he whispered. “But if anything happens… I need to know you heard me say it.”

Auren’s heart cracked down the center.

He pulled Ulric close, arms tight around his back, burying his face in the hollow of his neck. The ocean breathed for them. The wind curled their hair. They held one another in the hush between night and morning, hearts pressed tight, souls opened like wounds.

They returned to the cabin as dawn began to warm the sky.

Ulric fell into bed with a tired groan, and Auren crawled in after him, tucking himself into the crook of Ulric’s body. The Kraken’s arm wrapped around him automatically.

Auren stared at the wooden wall, eyes wide, body still trembling with unspoken fear.

This was love. It was comfort and heat and belonging. It was the one place he’d ever felt truly at home.

And it terrified him.

Because people didn’t say things like Ulric had said unless they were preparing to disappear.

Please, Auren thought, gripping Ulric’s hand tightly in the dark. Please don’t go.

As his eyes drifted shut, he caught the faint shimmer of ink vanishing—another of Ulric’s tattoos dissolving, leaving the skin bare.

Ulric was fading.

Auren closed his eyes.