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I looked up at him inquisitively. “Can I heal you as well?”
He shook his head slightly, his voice soft but firm. “No, you cannot.”
I didn’t understand. “If we can both track each other through the tattoos, why can’t we heal one another as well?”
“Because our bond does not come from our deal,” he said, his eyes searching mine. Whatever he looked for . . . I didn’t know.
Our bond—that was what the constant pull was, the consistent tethering that drew me to him.
Fate.
I nibbled on my bottom lip, releasing it as I asked, “So then if you can heal me, but I cannot heal you, then what can I do in return?”
His black lashes lifted slowly. “You can offer me something no one else can.”
“And that is?” I asked, my voice breathless.
He tipped my chin upwards, his eyes holding mine. “The ability to feel alive.”
And then he kissed me.
I fell into the feel of it—of him, his arms holding me, tethering me to his world. Our lips moved, his tongue darting into my mouth, taking and teasing and taunting. I melted into him. When I was certain my clothes would combust into a plume of cinders, he removed his lips from mine. Lightly, he pressed our foreheads together, his wide chest slowly rising, his breaths calm and certain. Unlike mine—quick and sporadic.
Slowly, he lifted his forehead from mine, looking over to a dense thicket about a stone’s throw away from us—a Ryker-sized throw, definitely not Soren-sized. “Come out from your hiding spot,” Von said, his tone an inescapable command.
Something stirred from there, rustled around, before a male figure stepped out—Arkyn.
I scowled.
My Water Curse begged to be set free, demanded to show him what it felt like to not be able to breathe.
He dusted off his coat, plucked a stray twig from his red hair, and then strode towards us, mindful to keep some distance. Arkyn’s tone tasted as sour as the look on his face. “Ever the dutiful watchdog, are you not, Blood King?” He spat out the last two words like they were poison in his mouth.
Blood King?
Von’s arm draped leisurely around my waist, protectively coiling there. “I could say the same for you,king’s advisor.”
I sputtered. They knew each other? My mind swirled, ransacked by a thousand and one questions.
“The cloaking spell you used to distort her features—to hide her from me. That was a clever trick. You nearly had me fooled. I wasn’t aware you possessed that form of magic,” Arkyn said, muscular arms crossing over his chest, his feet spread shoulder width apart, locking him to the ground. It was a laid back but ready for battle stance if I’d ever seen one.
Cloaking spell? Distorting my features? What in the Spirit Realm was Arkyn talking about?
“I possess a great deal of things you are unaware of,” Von replied in his signature smooth bourbon tone.
“Yet, you will never possess the thing you want most.” Arkyn’s gaze shifted to me and then back to Von. “You know full well who she belongs to.”
Who Ibelongto? I sneered. This was getting out of hand.
“How do you know each other?” I questioned, clutching at the few puzzle pieces I had, the rest of them scattered and missing.
“We gowayback,” Arkyn answered with a sneer before he stretched out his hand, offering it to me, the shining pin of the king’s advisor reflecting in the sun. “Come, our king awaits us.”
Instinctively, I clutched at Von. “You are insane if you think I would go anywhere withyou. You tried tokillme.”
“Not exactly,” Arkyn replied, his arms relaxing, drifting to his sides. Still, he watched Von carefully.
“Not exactly? Do you know what it’s like not to be able to breathe?” I took a step forward, water droplets building in my palm. I turned my head to the side, disgusted by the male that stood before me. “Why? Why did you do it?”
