Chapter Twenty

I spent the entire journey thinking about Vax. Going over our last minutes together again and again. I noticed details now that I had missed before. Like the way his hands shook when he claimed my life. The way his eyes flashed with need and fury. He'd been battling his dragon. Did his beast need me too? Was there a separation between them? I just didn't know enough about Sea Dragons to be sure. They'd been hibernating my entire life. Then the Dragon God had been freed, and so had they. But their rule was still new. The seas were still adjusting to their return. And people like me were getting to know them for the first time. Some of us a little more intimately than others.

And then I saw it. Shasenai. It looked even more glorious than it had that first time. A beacon still, but now that beacon was leading me to Vax. I dropped down to the seabed before the city gates with a smile on my face. There were guards on duty there, but they didn't stop me. People of all the sea races went through the ward and entered the city through that gate. All were permitted to pass. If war ever threatened, the gates would be closed, but they wouldn't be as useful as the ward. The very ward that kept water out and air in would condense under the King's will and keep out everything. Nothing would pass through without his permission. It made the position of gate guard rather superfluous. Still, they seemed pleased to do it, holding their chins high and nodding to people as they passed. Even me. But then I didn't look all that piraty in my swimming clothes.

The ward wrung the water from my clothes, so I stopped off to the side of the foot traffic to pull on more layers and get into my boots. Feeling more like myself in my loose pants and vibrant vest, I grinned and sauntered to the sidewalk. Not the street, mind you. Even underwater, there were carriages rolling down the streets. And yes, they were pulled by horses. Don't ask me how they got the poor beasts down there, but they didn't look all that bothered by their precarious position under billions of tons of water.

I considered hiring a carriage to take me to the palace, but I was enjoying the anticipation too much. And the city.

When Vax had first brought me there, I didn't have the chance to see much of Shasenai, swimming over it as we had. Then he'd kept me sequestered in his apartments. And when I left, I was in a bit of a rush. But now, I could enjoy the sweet and savory smells coming out of bakeries and restaurants. I could take in the stone carvings on the delicate architecture and the flowing clothes of the residents. It was another world down there, with its own style and culture.

But the closer I got to the palace, the more antsy I became. I was there. Vax was near. I had to get to him. I started to walk faster and faster, nearly breaking into a run. Just before I reached the palace, I paused to collect myself.

The guards at the city gate may have been welcoming, but the palace guards were not. As this was a palace, not a castle, there were no fortifications around it, only a golden fence. But when a palace was full of Sea Dragons, a fence was all that was needed to keep out the riffraff. Except for this bit of riffraff. I just sauntered up to the gate, expecting to be allowed in. The Sea Dragon knights took one look at me and crossed their pikes across my path.

"Turn around, Neraky," one of them said.

"I'm here to see King Vaxarion. I know it sounds crazy, but he'll want to see me. My name is—"

"I said turn around!" the knight growled.

"And I said I want to see the King!" I shouted.

The man jerked back in shock but then narrowed his eyes at me. "Get the fuck out of here before I stick you like a fish."

"King Vaxarion!" I shouted. "It's Zixin! I've come back, Your Majesty!"

"Who the fuck is this guy?" the other guard muttered.

"Hey, shut your mouth!" the first knight said. "The King isn't seeing anyone right now."

"He'll see me," I said and settled into a wide-legged stance. "And I'm not going anywhere until he does."

"I will spear you."

"You can try. And that's going to really make your king mad. He generally doesn't like people spearing his consort."

The knights looked at each other, then burst into laughter.

I grimaced. "Don't believe me? Send for Yavess."

At the mention of the Steward's name, they both went still.

"How do you know that name?" one of them demanded.

"Yavess!" I shouted. "Yavess, I need your help out here! Yavess!"

I saw the doormen scramble inside and grinned to myself.

"He can't be," one of them said.

"How does he know Yavess then?"

"Because the last time I entered this palace, it was from above," I said. "Held in the talon of your king."

"You're that Neraky?" one of them asked.

"Yup," I said. I mean, how many Neraky men had Vax brought home that way? It had to be me.

Then an image popped into my head—all those men dressed in barely anything, housed in a room within the King's quarters. His bed slaves. There had been a lot of them. Twenty-six, to be exact.

Shit. What if Vax was on a fuck-bender to get over me? He could, at that very moment, be balls-deep in another Neraky ass. The thought made my cold blood run hot.

"You look like a pirate," one of the guards said.

Irritated by the mere possibility of Vax fucking another guy, I started to snap at the guard that I looked like a pirate because I was one. But then someone shouted.

"Let him through!" It was Yavess.

"Fuck!" one of the guards said.

"Go on through, my lord," the other hurried to add, lifting his spear. "Sorry about the misunderstanding."

But I wasn't looking at him. I was staring at Yavess and his anxious expression. What was I doing? Come to grovel? I didn't want to grovel. I was not a groveler. I may have confidently thrown the word consort in the faces of these two Sea Dragons, but I didn't feel that confidence. I had turned Vax down. I was most definitely not his consort. But I had come all that way to see him, and my luck was about to get me through the gates. I couldn't lose my nerve now. I loved Vax. He was worth groveling for. Fuck, he was worth dying for. I stepped past the guards and headed for Yavess.

Yavess met me halfway across the courtyard. He clutched at my wrist as if he'd sooner break it than let go. "My lord! You've returned! Thank the Dragon Gods! You've returned!"

I blinked. "Uh, I was hoping to speak to the King."

"Oh, you will!" Yavess yanked me toward the palace. "You will indeed."

"What's going on, Yavess? You seem upset."

Yavess shook his head. "I shouldn't have let you leave. But the Gods have smiled upon me. They've sent you back to him. Thank you!"

And he wasn't thanking me. Yavess was looking up when he offered his thanks. What the fuck?

"Yavess!" I jerked him to a halt just inside the palace. "What's going on?"

Yavess collected himself and faced me, though he still didn't release my wrist. "The King. He, uh. You left and he . . ." He looked around at the courtiers who were staring at us. "Come with me, and I'll explain." Yavess jerked on my wrist again, racing down the corridor.

We were getting close to the royal apartments. I recognized the paintings. But before we got to the doors, Yavess pulled me into a sitting room and slammed the door.

Finally releasing my wrist, Yavess spun to face me and said, "He is not himself. The King went into a rage when you left. He tore apart his bedroom, burned his pleasure garden, and now refuses to eat. He won't let anyone up to see him. He even sent all his bed slaves away. The royal apartments are empty of all but him."

"He sent all of them away?" I grinned.

"Are you fucking listening to me?!" Yavess shrieked. "He burned his garden! He lies among the ashes in his beast body, snapping at any who dare approach, even those who bring him food. I fear for his sanity." He paused to glare at me. "And it's all because of you!"

"He told me to leave!"

"Why? Why would he do that if he so desperately wants you here?"

I pressed my lips together.

"Something happened," Yavess concluded. "He felt compelled to send you away, didn't he?"

"Maybe," I admitted.

"It's fine. Doesn't matter." He held up his hands. "You are here now. Everything will be fine." He grabbed my wrist again and flew back into the corridor.

"All right, ease up," I said.

Yavess did not ease up. He raced down the final corridor, up to the doors of the King's apartments, and shouted, "Open the doors!"

The knights looked at each other, then at Yavess.

"Open them now! Do you not recognize this man? Open the fucking doors!"

The knights opened the doors, and Yavess practically tossed me into Vax's apartments.

I stumbled, righted myself, and looked back at him with wide eyes.

"The garden is at the end of this hallway and to the right," Yavess said. "May the Gods be with you." He nodded at the knights.

The doors shut on my gaping face.

I turned around slowly. There, on my right, was the door to the slave quarters. I had to know. So, I went there first and poked my head in. It was empty. Abandoned. I went inside. Every room was empty, no clothes in the closets. The beds made. I left the slave quarters.

The other rooms didn't matter to me. I left my satchel in the corridor and strode down it, my footsteps and soft breaths the only sounds to be heard. But then I drew near the archway at the end, and I heard it. The whimper of a beast. A pathetic sound that pierced my chest. Fuck, it was all my fault! My hearts ached as I raced through the opening and out to the terrace where the King's pleasure garden once grew.

There he was. My glorious lover in his sea dragon form, curled up on a pile of ashes. Everything around him blackened. The color brought his iridescence to life, making him shine with deep blue, green, and purple. Like a priceless jewel. So beautiful. And yet his head drooped over his forepaws, eyes closed, and his chest rose and fell raggedly.

"Vax!" I cried and rushed forward.

Those huge eyes blinked open and focused on me. For a moment, joy shifted over his dragon face, his whiskers lifting in delight. But then something chased the joy away, turning it into a glare.

"What are you doing here, Zixin?" Vaxarion's sexy voice rolled out of the beast.

"I've come back for you. I don't want to be without you, Vax," I said. "Please, forgive me for leaving."

Another twitch of joy, but then fury entered his eyes. "I would have given you everything."

Would have. Oh, fuck.

"I know," I said. Then I grimaced. "No, I didn't know. I didn't know anything about us. I was confused. I thought your desire would wane. I thought it wasn't possible that you could want me for more than a little while. I didn't understand how powerful what we have is. But I feel it now. You've haunted me."

"What about the adventure you crave, pirate?"

"You are the greatest adventure of my life."

A soft sound escaped him, but then he turned away and lowered his head to face the city. "You're too late. I don't want you anymore."

"I don't believe that."

Suddenly, King Vaxarion rose to his feet and loomed over me. Curling his head down, he shouted, "I don't care what you believe, you perfidious bastard."

"Perfidious? Damn. That's a big word."

"It means treacherous. False. Disloyal."

"Yeah, I got the gist of it," I muttered.

"Get out!"

I held up my hands and backed out of the garden. Not that I'd give up that easily. I just sensed that I shouldn't push him. He knew I was back, and I had made my speech. Now, Vax needed time to think it over. I'd give him all the time he wanted.

But I wasn't going anywhere.

I strode down the corridor, a plan forming. One that would cost me dearly.

"He's worth it," I said and headed for the slave quarters.