Kael’s smile is soft. “You make it sound so poetic.”
“Shut up and kiss me, Kael.”
He does. And I don’t give a rat’s ass that everyone is watching.
And just like that, we’re committed.
To the bond.
To the search.
To saving them both.
Whatever it takes.
But first… I’ll need a little taste, which makes me sound all vampire-ish. I would make an awesome Spike, a thought that I absolutely keep to myself as I give Varek an up-nod and tug Kael out of the room with me, hollering, “We’ll be back soon!”
“Blue blood meanssomething super different on Earth.” I wrinkle my nose. Am I also disappointed in myself that I’m not like Spike at all? Not even a little? Maybe, but the blue blood that pools at Kael’s wrist is absolutely not doing it for me.
Not to get me wrong—if it were red, human blood, without a doubt I’d react the same. Still, I need to do it. Plus, Kael surprised the shit out of me by immediately getting on board. Apparently, if we’re entering the heart of the queendom, I need kick-arse powers, and he needs to be at optimum strength.
Our romance game is not at all strong, but hey, I’m trying here.
I scrunch my nose again, my eyes seeking out Kael’s when I see his lips twitch. “You’re enjoying this,” I mutter.
He tilts his head slightly, the faintest smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Your face is very… expressive.”
I huff. “I’m about to suck your blood and bond our souls for eternity, but sure, let’s mock my eyebrows.”
Kael shifts closer, his knees brushing mine as he holds out his arm, the blood still glistening at his wrist, bright and unnatural. “It only takes a taste,” he says, voice soft. “You don’t have to?—”
“I want to.” And I do. It hits me then—not just the necessity of it, but the weight, the meaning. The commitment. My heart skips. “Okay,” I whisper, then bend forwards and press my lips to the wound.
It tastes… not like copper. Not like anything I’ve ever tasted before. There’s a strange effervescence to it, like the edge of lightning before a storm, a kind of fizz and hum that dances across my tongue and zings straight through me.
I blink.
Kael gasps.
Everything shifts.
The moment the blood hits my system, something changes—fast and deep—like a door blown open inside me. My spine arches involuntarily, light bursting through my chest, wild and electrifying. The bond slams home with a force that’s impossible to deny, like the final lock sliding into place on something ancient and unbreakable.
And then?—
He’s there. Not physically, though his body is still pressed close. He’s in my mind. Not as thoughts, not as words, but as… presence.
Pressure.
Warmth.
“Let me in.”
It’s not a command. It’s a request. A feather-soft nudge in my mind that curls around the edges of me like a tide, patient, quiet, steady.
And I know what to do.
I let him in.
