Page 94 of Stolen Magic of the Deep

As I wait, I sit on the ledge of the healing spring, my tail drifting lazily through the water while my fingers trace idle circles in the sand. The stillness here feels sacred. The soft hum of blue bioluminescence above me paints the chamber in gentle light, and the spring responds to the slow movement of my tail, rippling in quiet harmony.

This place is so beautiful, I almost wish I could take it with me. The water remembers everything, each whisper or cry of pain I’ve released into it. I can almost feel the ache it has absorbed from me, the way it cradles and carries it away. It’s as if the spring has accepted my injuries as its own, so that I might be whole again.

“Reminiscing, Snapdragon?” Orion’s voice slips through the silence, low and rough at the edges.

I peel my gaze from the circles I’ve been tracing in the sand and look up. He floats near the archway that rises above the narrow river entrance feeding into the healing spring. Just below it, a flat stretch of rock rests at the water’s surface—the passage Naeryss swims beneath to come and go during each session. The clear barrier hums faintly between us, separating the spring’s concentrated magic from the open waters beyond. Light from the barrier glimmers across his face, catching on the dark strands of his hair that fall messily around his temples.

He looks disheveled, like he hasn’t slept in days. Shadows cling to him, the usual regal sharpness of his posture dulled by exhaustion. The faint glow of the spring light traces the dark hollows beneath his eyes, the toll of too many sleepless nights written plainly across his face.

“I see your magic has awoken,” he says, a small smile curving his lips despite the fatigue weighing on him. “How does it feel? Does anything hurt?”

His eyes peer down my tail, inspecting my healed injury. The brief silence after his question speaks volumes.

“Better than I imagined,” I answer, my tail flicking idly beneath the surface. “Like slipping on your favorite pair of pajamas.”

He raises an eyebrow, that faint spark of amusement glinting through his weariness. “Am I supposed to understand what that means?”

A soft laugh escapes me before I can stop it. “Silly of me to assume you would,” I murmur, the corners of my mouth lifting despite the nervous flutter in my chest.

He returns my smile, but not in the same way he usually does. There’s something strained about it. Gentle, yes, but distant enough to unsettle me.

“I have a few things I need to admit to you.” His voice shifts, all warmth replaced by gravity. “That challenge was unlike anything I've ever witnessed. Not because of the beast you fought, but because you were in the arena, and I couldn't do anything to stop it.”

My heart races. I know where this is going. He’s going to bring up the sea mates thing again.

“Orion, if this is about us being—”

“Please, for fucking once, just let me talk!” His voice cuts through mine, echoing off the cave walls and creating ripples in the water between us.

“I felt everything . . .” His voice sounds defeated, the truth of the words dragging through the water between us. “You turned yourself into a sacrifice—a target—so your teammates could get their strikes on the beast. I don't blame you for the route you had to take to win that battle, but you knew it would come at a cost, didn't you?”

I nod, slowly, unable to meet his eyes.

“Sarah,” he continues, voice breaking on my name, “I felt it. The moment your life started to slip away. I felt the agony with every shift of the Mordyth’s grip around your body. And when it released you, when you started to drift down, I felt your final breath. The moment your mind could no longer hold on, when the light within you flickered out.”

He pauses, closing his eyes briefly, drawing a shaky breath before forcing himself to go on.

"I had been gone for seventeen sea days, Sarah. Seventeen days on a mission that was supposed to only be four at most. And when I returned, I couldn't let another moment pass without knowing what it felt like to have your lips against mine. Even if it meant I would only ever have that one moment with you. I needed to know. And when I kissed you, something changed. That was when I finally accepted what I had been fighting all along. I stopped questioning the bond. Stopped trying to understand whether it was real. I accepted it. Accepted you."

His voice drops to barely a whisper. "So when I felt you slipping away . . ." A sharp, violent tremor rippled through his locked jaw. "It felt like I was breaking apart from the inside. Every second your life faded, something inside me fractured with it. I had only just accepted what you were to me, and then . . . I thought I was going to lose you.

“Just before the Mordyth released you, Defymin landed a final strike and twisted his spear, piercing the beast’s heart. Its death was instant. And the moment it relinquished you, I was already moving—Lady Naeryss beside me. Our efforts to reach you were close, especially with the speed at which the Mordyth was falling; it would have crushed you entirely. And when we did reach you, her hand went to your chest, casting the spell that stabilized you until we could get you here. I haven't left since.”

His words hit me harder than any strike from the Mordyth ever could.

“I haven't slept. Damn it, Sarah, I haven't even eaten. I've refused everything until I knew you were okay.”

The pain in his voice is raw, trembling with something far deeper than anger. His eyes are dangerously glassy, a heavy moisture hovering on the brink. Tears continue to gather, catching the spring light, and I realize this isn’t the Orion I’ve come to know. The flirtatious, untouchable king I’ve seen so far feels worlds away from the male drifting before me now.

Maybe this side of him isn’t new at all. Maybe I’ve just never let him show it.

“I've been scared,” he admits, voice low. “The moment you truly accepted your magic as your own, and not my father’s, was the moment I felt the bond start to awaken. I was skeptical at first, testing it little by little, relying on what little I already knew. But I needed to know if you felt anything, too. When I saw no change in your behavior toward me, I began using my hydro-senses to feel your emotions. Then, one day, I didn't have to. They would just . . . appear. In my heart, in my mind—even when you weren't near me.

“Then your emotions evolved into something deeper, into thoughts. I began to hear them. I know things you think I do not. The way you have admired my physique, my facial features . . . the way your body reacts in ways you have yet to understand.”

My eyes widened. “You’ve been able to hear those this entire time?”

“Well, yes, until I taught you how to close off your thoughts from the rest of your mind. It makes it harder for anyone to intrude—even your sea mate. But I hate that you have hid your true thoughts and feelings from me, Snapdragon.”