Chapter Ten

*Ragnar*

I am burning up. My insides feel like they are on fire, a sensation I have never experienced before and one I never wish to feel again. There is no way for me to know how long I’ve been in this purgatory, but it feels like an eternity as it spreads throughout my entire body. In the beginning there is no room for anything but the burn, but as time goes on awareness returns. With it, comes knowledge. With knowledge comes fear.

Regreee. Her name bursts from my lips even as I am blinded by the inferno within me. It is a cry filled with all the fear I feel for my fragile mate. The Naga, the human word for it, wanted to take her from me. Did he succeed? His venom leeches through my veins, warring with my rage at the thought of losing her to one such as he. Memory and reality clash together, stealing rational thought.

As fast as my rage comes, it is washed away by the feel of soft hands upon my face. With that light touch comes a cooling sensation that is like a balm to my tortured soul. The hands of my mate. She wasn’t taken from me after all. Her name rises from the depth of my soul once more but only a whimper escapes, my throat as ravaged by the flames as the rest of me.

“Shhhh. I’m here Ragnar.” Those words are short, but their effect is like nothing else I have ever known. That simple phrase lights me up, banishing the flames as they spiderweb their way from my hearts outward. She is here. My love and devotion for her overwhelms me until I can do nothing but send out vibrations to convey my feelings.

I cannot see her, blinded as I am, but I know she feels it. Her whole-body jolts with the vibration and she gives a watery laugh as her hands run down my face to my chest. Her sadness is visceral, tearing into me in a way that the flames never could. Why is she sad? Who hurt her? Did the Naga come back and get to her? Our battle is fuzzy, made worse by the bite he delivered when I…when I tore his head from his shoulders. At least I think I did.

Thrashing my head side to side, I try to clear my thoughts, needing to remember what happened. It is no use. As soon as her hands leave my scales, the flames return hotter than ever. They sweep every thought from my mind once more until I can do nothing but burn and I be swept once more into oblivion.

My next rise from the flames feels like it takes an eternity. I am still blinded. Still unable to see the world around me. Smells assault my nose now, at least one sense returning to me. Blood. The acrid scent of Naga blood is like a stab in my snout. I shake my head back and forth to try and clear the offensive smell from it.

“Shhhh. You must be quiet. It is nighttime. Please Ragnar.” The voice of my mate is like music to my tortured ears and I immediately quiet, not realizing I was moaning until her tearful, fearful request reaches me. The need to protect rises to the surface, driving me to fight the burn. I am nothing without my mate. I must rise above this pain; I must protect her.

My muddled thoughts cannot identify any clear danger but just hearing that it is nighttime sends me into a tizzy of motion. My damned eyes refuse to clear as I stumble to my feet. My mind swims as the burn of the venom intensifies. My determination is clear and strong. I must get to the door.

It waivers the moment I hear her soft cry of alarm. Warm hands hit my chest as I sway, my arms lift to catch myself, but I am all too aware of my dagger-like claws against the soft flesh of my mate. Letting them fall back to my side, I let her push me backwards until I am off balance and crashing back to the ground. My fall is far softer than I anticipated, the bedding beneath me catching me by surprise.

“Stay the fuck down. You’ve barely been out a few hours. That venom is still in your system, and I don’t need you drawing some beast our way.” She snaps, her voice barely able to be heard.

Fear for her takes over once more and I stop to listen, aware of the background noises that filter through the walls around us. Guilt eats at me. My mate is wise, and I instantly stop my struggles. If I must endure this burn without a single complaint to keep her safe, then I will do so. When it finally passes through my system? Nothing will stop me from being with her.