33. TWENTY-EIGHT

TWENTY-EIGHT

Wren

“Whatdidyouguys do to cause Rowan to give that speech?” Thorn raised a brow at Damien and me.

“It was different. Would love to know what brought it on,” Alister agreed.

My face turned red as I remembered yesterday with Damien in the torture chamber. I’d been so overcome with lust and obsession for him.

“I killed a dragon in front of her and fucked her next to the corpse. Rowan, Norman, and Trixie came in, but I didn’t stop fucking her until we came,” Damien explained with a smirk on his lips.

Thorn and Kian’s brows went up, but Alister just chuckled. “Of course you did.”

“Stop it,” I whined, moving next to Thorn and Kian and glaring at Alister and Damien.

“Nothing wrong with getting off, little bird. You were such a good girl for me.” He raked his gaze down my body.

“Damien, to be fair, she’s always good.” Alister flashed his fangs at me.

Thorn chuckled. “Got us there, Kit.”

Kian wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me to his side. “Stop embarrassing her. How would you feel if we kept talking about you having sex?”

My gratitude swelled as I looked at my necromancer with a smile. “Thank you, Kian.”

“Anytime, sweetheart.”

“I mean, you can talk about me having sex with my mate as much as you like,” Damien purred, winking at me.

The huge frozen lake in the Ice Kingdom stretched out in front of us. The air was sharp as it slid across our skin, and I melted into Kian with a sigh. The lake was completely frozen on top, and we had to get underneath it to find the cave systems.

“How are you going to handle the cold?” I asked the guys, and Kian tensed before shivering.

“Well, I’m a vampire,” Alister reminded me with another flash of his fangs. “I don’t really like the cold, but it won’t kill me.”

Thorn let out a ragged sigh. “Bluebells, we should’ve thought of this. The exposure to the cold water could definitely kill you two.” He pointed at Damien and Kian.

Damien’s grin plummeted into a frown. “She’s not going down there without me.”

I slipped out of Kian’s hold and wrapped my arms around Damien’s neck before crashing my lips to his. His lips softened as he kissed me back, and I pulled away. “I would feel much better if you weren’t going to get hypothermia and die.”

“I’m a demon. I won’t get hypothermia.”

“Demons get hypothermia,” I scolded him, crossing my arms. “Demons are used to hot climates. Long-term exposure to freezing water will shock your system.”

“The only thing that shocks my system is you, little bird.”

“Please.” I pouted my lips out.

“Ten minutes is all you get,” he grumbled, crossing his arms.

“We’ll need fifteen.” Thorn added.

Damien gritted his teeth. “Fine. Fifteen.”

“I’ll be fine. Actually, I was wondering if you guys wanted me to go down myself to get it. I can go incorporeal and then just go corporal, grab the crystal and go incorporeal again. My powers have really expanded since bonding all of you so I should be able to make it go incorporeal with me.”

“Definitely not happening, Kit.” Thorn cupped my face and pressed a kiss to my nose. “I am definitely coming with you. You need to know where it is, anyway.”

“I want to see this cave,” Alister pouted his lips.

“You are.” I giggled, and he smirked at Damien.

“Only thing is, if something goes wrong, I can’t phase under water.”

“I can teleport you back if I feel any urgency in the bond,” Kian said, his eyes now brimming with worry.

“Useful to have a warlock around.” Alister smacked Kian’s back, and Kian went red.

Damien rolled his eyes before his arm shot out, and he grabbed my throat, pulling me from Thorn into him. “Don’t take any unnecessary risks. If you do, I’ll punish you until your ass is red.”

Heat unfurled in my lower abdomen, and Alister groaned.

“Really, sweet ruby? That turned you on?”

“Always at the most inopportune times,” Thorn muttered.

“Everything about all of you turns me on,” I admitted as Damien let me go. “Do we have to wear these, though?” I gestured to the wet suits that we wore.

Thorn smiled, letting his eyes graze over the suit that hugged every part of my body. “They’re enchanted. They allow for breathing and speaking underwater. Only for an hour, though. It has limits.”

“That’s really cool.” I twisted around and looked at the black suit. It was tight, and I wasn’t a huge fan of the slick material, but the enchantment made it worth it.

“We’re only going to be under for fifteen minutes. Are you ready?” Thorn reached up and tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear.

We all shared a quick look before Kian wrapped me in his arms for a quick hug.

Damien brought his hands together in front of him before spreading them, and a large crack echoed through the valley, moving the frozen piece of ice on top of the lake. “I’ll hold this until you get back, but if you’re not up here in fourteen minutes, Kian is bringing you all back.”

“Be safe, sweetheart.” Kian pulled back with anxiety coursing through our bond.

“I will,” I promised.

Thorn waded into the water with me, and a shiver rolled through us as we smiled at each other.

“It’s cold, are you sure you don’t want to hold back?” Thorn glanced back at Alister, who hesitated after the first step into the water.

“It’s okay, if you can’t handle the cold. Wait here. I’ll bring the crystal and you can inspect it then,” I murmured as the freezing water rippled around my calves.

“To be honest, you probably won’t be able to fit in the cave. The cave is really small, and Wren may have to get the crystal herself.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.” Alister frowned before taking another step in, shivers wracking his body fiercely. “I’m out,” he squeaked, jumping back onto land.

Damien snickered.

“Just because I can deal with the freezing water, doesn’t mean I want to,” he hissed at Damien.

His words struck a chord in my heart as I remembered the time Callie had said something similar. She would’ve been great to have come with us on this mission.

“What’s wrong?” Kian asked.

“I was just thinking that what Alister said was really similar to what Callie had said before.”

“I’m sorry, sweet ruby.” Alister frowned, and I shook my head.

“I’m glad I have the memories of her. It’s not a bad thing, you know.” I smiled.

“Fifteen minutes,” Thorn repeated, but Damien shook his head.

“Fourteen.”

Thorn rolled his eyes but nodded before he gripped my hand.

Stepping off the hard mud and into the drop off of the lake, the ice water submerged us completely. I opened my eyes and took a small breath. Water didn’t go down my throat, instead, it was oxygen.

“This is incredible,” I said, realizing that I was actually speaking underwater and breathing.

“Magic is incredible.” He winked.

I let out a gasp as I saw his hair floating around him. He looked like a water nymph, and I swam forward to press my lips against his.

“I could kiss you all day, but we have to get that crystal.” He groaned, and our hair tangled together, almost reaching for each other as we pulled back.

We swam all the way to the bottom of the lake, the water’s icy hold clutching us in a frozen embrace.

My muscles stiffened from the cold as we reached the mouth of the cave. It was straight down toward the same side that we came in at, but underneath where the rest of the guys were standing. I could sense them through the bond even with how deep underwater we were.

“It’s in this cave.” Thorn pointed toward the opening of the rock side.

The water wasn’t clear this far below, but it wasn’t murky either. Little wisps of magic lit up the cave before I realized they weren’t wisps at all. They were crystals. They glowed brightly within the cave, illuminating the area with different colors.

“Which ones are those?” I pointed below us to the few scattered dark green crystals embedded in the bottom.

“It’s terlivine. A poison crystal. The one that made us sick.”

My stomach rolled. “I remember you telling me about it. There aren’t that many of them. Probably for the best.”

“Unfortunately, there’s more in the center.” He frowned, kicking his feet and propelling himself into the cave, and I followed. “The Hailtz crystal is black. It’s in a smaller cavern to the right.”

The cave opened into three different tunnels, straight ahead, right, and left. It had been so long since I had been swimming somewhere, but I managed to keep up with him.

We swam all the way down the right tunnel until it narrowed and stopped. To the left was a smaller cavern.

Thorn moved his hand over the rock and paused. “There should be a chamber on the other side of this opening that houses the crystal.”

I kept kicking my legs and moving my hands to keep myself from acknowledging how cold it was in here. My muscles were so tight. “Have you ever actually seen it?”

“No, but I read about it in a few journals. To be completely honest with you, from what I’ve been told, it’s not a legend, but I’ve never seen it with my own eyes.”

“It has to be real and in there, Thorn.” My eyes widened, and he nodded.

“I’m sure it is, Kit. I’m just worried.”

“Don’t be. I’ll go incorporeal to get inside the chamber then grab it and come back.”

He grabbed my waist and floated closer before pressing his lips on mine. “Safely.”

“Give me a couple of minutes.” I went incorporeal and moved through the thick rock into the chamber.

The chamber was small. Very narrow, and I had to be sure to keep my limbs close as I went corporeal and swam to the top. The crystal wasn’t glowing, and I couldn’t see anything but blurs.

Reaching my arm up, I felt along the jagged edges of rock above me. My fingertips slid across something smooth, and I felt the magical energy within it.

“There you are.” I gripped the top part of the crystal with my fingers and pulled, but it didn’t budge.

“You okay, Kit?”

“I’m getting it.” I huffed a frustrated breath and used two hands. I squeezed my knees to my chest, hating how tight the walls were together and flipped upside down, placing both of my feet on the ceiling before pushing and pulling the crystal off. My head smacked into the wall, and I yelped as it broke off.

The entire chamber shook, and I gripped the large crystal in my hands as my head healed.

“Wren! Go incorporeal right now and get out of there. I won’t leave until you are here with me!” Thorn’s voice was laced with fear.

My magic exploded as panic slammed into me, and I went through the rock and back into the cave where Thorn was, stubbornly unmoving.

I went corporeal, pushing him through the cave. “Swim!”

Rocks were crumbling around us, falling almost soundlessly around us until the tunnel began to collapse.

Kian’s purple magic zapped around us like a lightning storm, lighting up the cave with bright purple, drowning out the other colors.

It was like falling out of the mirror as I hit the frozen ground hard, completely dry and gasping for air—without Thorn.

“Where is he?” I gasped, and Damien and Alister hauled me up by each arm.

Pulling out of their hold, I shoved the crystal into Alister’s chest and rushed a few feet into the water, scanning the surface to see nothing.

“He’s fine,” Kian murmured, stepping next to me. “He fell into the water over there.” He pointed out a spot a little bit from us when the surface broke, and Thorn’s panicked eyes met mine and relaxed as he swam toward us.

“Carnations, Kit,” he hissed, climbing back on land and rushing into me, wrapping his arms around me tightly.

Damien let go of the ice, letting the two sections crash into each other with a terrible cracking sound.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to teleport you into the lake.” Kian’s face was red, mostly from the cold.

Thorn squeezed me tightly before letting go and facing Kian. “I’m just glad you got me and Wren out of there.”

“What happened?” Alister asked, inspecting the crystal with intent fascination.

“The chamber collapsed after I pulled the crystal free from the top of it. I didn’t see any more of them, but I couldn’t see very well in the first place and only felt the ceiling until I came across that one,” I shoved my palms into my closed eyes and sighed.

“You weren’t kidding about the life force,” Alister muttered. “It’s not even activated, yet I can feel it tugging. This crystal is unlike any kind of magic I’ve ever experienced.”

Thorn let out a breath. “It’s the last resource in this war, and may be the only thing that can destroy the relic.”

My throat tightened as Kian’s warm arms circled around me. We had to make sure that crystal could destroy it. If not, all of the effort we were putting toward winning this war would be for nothing.