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How can I make up for all the heartache I caused? How can I make things right?
He drew in a deep breath. “Marli, Zayli and I—”
“Shh. I don’t want to hear it if it’s in the past.”
Sten blew out the breath he’d sucked in to make his confession. “It is.”
“Then that’s done too. She and I have a complicated relationship.” She smiled. “Besides, after the claiming that went on in my bedroom, we’re stuck with each other.”
Sten chuckled.
“Sten, if you knew Zayli was Aeleftherian, why didn’t you ever follow her back to the islands?”
“That would have been the smart thing to do.” He shrugged. “I considered it. But, when I was off duty, I wasn’t under orders to fulfill any missions. And I really just wanted to have a good time.”
“How did you know she was Aeleftherian? We don’t broadcast it.”
Sten rubbed a thumb against his temple. “She, uh, has a tattoo on her hip.”
Marli released Sten’s hand. She rubbed her palms over face and back through her hair with a growl. “Dragonsdammit, Zayli.” She sucked in a deep breath and released it. “That is going to have to be addressed. Though I don’t think it matters much anymore. Thanks to Clive and Merwin’s actions, we’ve got a whole bunch of folks that know exactly where Aeleftheria is now. But, that’s a next week problem. Today, we have to prepare for a funeral and catch a shifty imposter who’s still after some mystery object—which we have no clues about.”
Jori poked his head out of the suite door, eyes bright. “Guys, we think we know what the librarian is after.”
Sten laughed.
Marli threw up her arms, “Well, alright then!” She got to her feet and offered Sten a hand.
He accepted it and stood next to her, gaze fluttering over her smiling face. He pulled her into his arms and placed a kiss on the top of her head.
I love you.
He squeezed her closer to soothe the swelling in his heart.
She squeezed him back, burying her face in his shoulder.
Chapter 26
Marli led Stenlen back into the royal suite.
“Didn’t take you guys long to make a mess of the place,” she said, taking in the mass of papers spread across every available surface.
The boxes from the smaller bathroom vault rested on a side table along with several other objects, and the gold key that had opened the outer door to the larger vault.
“So,” Jori turned with a hands-up, ready-to-explain gesture. “Get this—the key,” he pointed to the gold key, “is the key to The Key!”
Marli shook her head, brows scrunched up, laughing at Jori’s excitement. “What?”
“Another key?” Sten asked, looking to everyone else for a more coherent explanation.
Everyone else wore an expression of grim concern. Elora sat on the couch next to Odson with her face in her hands.
Jori looked like he was losing his mind.
“This is so wrecked! My mind is blown here, guys. Who’d have thought that not only would I discover that the myths and legends I was looking for in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle were real, and then—surprise—turns out I’m a dragon-guy.” He held up his shaking index finger. “And not just any dragon-guy. The fucking dragon-guy-son of the king that was trying to conquer said mythological world and, and—get this—has the fucking power to wipe out all the dragon monarchs, and myself in the process. So yeah, I’m going back to the human world because none of this makes any fucking sense.” He ran his hands through his long hair, disheveling it. “Or, I’m actually dead and rotting in my plane on that island where Kymri found me. That has to be it.”
Marli’s heart pounded in her chest as ice slid down her spine, processing what he said.
“What the hell does any of that mean?” Sten said to Eamerson.
