by Lyra Evans
“Then prove it,” Niko said, staring out toward the strip of water he could see. “Don’t do it.”
Cobalt looked at him, his hands still holding the scroll. A royal seal kept it shut. Niko had known what it was from the moment Cobalt emerged from the Court Hall, but he’d hoped—well.
“I don’t think your Queen would take kindly to me disregarding her instructions,” Cobalt said, a tick of lightness in his voice. Niko didn’t find the situation very funny though, despite Cobalt’s efforts.
“Just give it to an octopus, or a squid, or a fucking dolphin, I don’t care,” Niko said. “Just—just don’t take it yourself.”
Cobalt nodded, his eyebrows furrowing and his eyes shut tightly. He shook his head to himself, and it took much of Niko’s will not to look at him directly.
“And the Soul Stones?” Cobalt asked. “How am I to return them to the Reef? For their loved ones…for the Court.”
Guilt ate violently at Niko’s stomach, acid stripping through muscle and tissue and bone to destroy him. He breathed out in struggling bursts, vaguely aware that this was one kind of pain he found no pleasure in. He thought he’d been broken beyond repair, but something still hurt too much to like.
“Let one of the other Selkies do it,” Niko said. “They’re going back anyway.”
Cobalt’s fingers wrapped around Niko’s hand, and Niko gripped back instantly, tightly, as though by this simple hold he could tether Cobalt to the land.
“I have to see Indy’s Stone back,” Cobalt said. “For his father and sister’s sakes. And if what Vermillion said is true, I need to know. I need to confront Azure, for the good of all my people. It is the final part of my mission. And I must see it to its close. Would you do any different?”
Niko cursed inwardly, wishing for a moment he wasn’t exactly who he was. Cobalt knew him too well too fast. How many times had Uri complained Niko was single-minded, a workaholic, stubbornly dedicated to closing his cases? How many times had Uri told him to let it go, to give it a rest, to put them first? For the first time, he understood how Uri felt. It fucking sucked.
Opening the car door, Niko got out with Cobalt. He locked the car and walked with him to the secluded beach. The waves rolled in along the shore, soaking into the sand and pebbles, and the sun bore down on him in his dark clothes, but Niko felt none of that. All he felt was Cobalt close to him and the smell of Cobalt, so akin to the smell of clear ocean and the endless stretch of blue.
Cobalt slowly shed his clothes and shoes, folding them into a neat pile and setting them in a second bag he pulled from his iridescent one. He bundled them in and handed it to Niko, who took it from him. He stood now before Niko in nothing but the iridescent swim shorts he’d been wearing when they first met, on a beach not unlike this one, standing in the surf.
“Keep these for me,” Cobalt said, gesturing at the bag. “I’ll need clothes when I come back.”
Niko’s mouth pressed to a thin line, and Cobalt reached out and pulled him close, hands on Niko’s hips. His own hands pressed to Cobalt’s bare chest, Niko’s eyes found the mark where the Soul Stone should have been. He felt it in his chest, and though he knew what he had to do, he couldn’t quite bring himself to do it.
“I could just refuse,” Niko said. “I could refuse to give it back to you. You’d have no choice but to stay.”
Cobalt smiled, pressing his forehead to Niko’s. There was a soft laugh on his voice when he said, “You could.”
But they both knew Niko wouldn’t. And there was no time left now. So Niko shut his eyes and placed his hand over the spot on his chest above the Stone. With a silent sob and an aching hollowness that grew like hunger and grief unmeasured, Niko felt the Stone emerge from him with a flash of blinding light. And then it was in his hand, his chest filled with echoing silence where it once was. Because now he knew what he was missing. Cobalt wrapped his hand around Niko’s, holding the Stone.
“It is yours,” Cobalt said. “And it always will be. I’m just borrowing it briefly.”
Niko released the Stone into Cobalt’s hands and watched as Cobalt replaced it on his own chest. It glimmered and shone in a gradient of celestial blue at him, begging to be returned. Niko nodded slowly.
“I have a very strict definition of ‘brief,’” he said. “Don’t you make me come get you.”
Cobalt smiled, tilting Niko’s head up with one hand, and pulled Niko into a kiss. Niko let Cobalt in, soaking in the taste of him and kissing back with all his hunger and need and every feeling he didn’t yet understand or want to name. He tried not to think this was their last kiss. It wasn’t. It was just a temporary separation. Just a moment in time, a blink in the face of eternity. Because that’s what Cobalt promised in being his Soul Mate, wasn’t it? Eternity? And Niko didn’t know how to fathom that yet, but he wasn’t prepared to give it up either.
Cobalt pulled away just enough to breathe, their lips still brushing, their breath mingling. Niko kept his eyes closed, not wanting to let go. He’d wrapped his arms around Cobalt at some point, his body trying its best to connect them indefinitely, but there was no way to do that now.
“I’ll be back before you can miss me,” Cobalt said. “Now I’ve tasted you, there’s no living without you, Niko.”
Cobalt began to walk backward into the surf, and Niko followed him, unwilling to bear distance between them just yet. His boots filled with water, his jeans soaking through, and Niko didn’t care. He stood waist-deep with Cobalt, still breathing him in and feeling his skin, committing everything about him to memory. Just when Cobalt was about to pull away, to transform back into his Waterdancing form, Niko clutched tighter, needing to say what he had not yet.
“I feel it, Cobalt,” he admitted. “I feel your Song in my heart, and I see our future in my mind. I—I know now. I’m your—” But he couldn’t wrap his mouth around the words he’d long-since believed were a lie, a folk tale for naïve people. And Cobalt saved him from it.
“Soul Mate,” Cobalt finished for him. He kissed Niko again and held Niko’s face in his hands. “You are mine, and I am yours, Pet. Not a thing in this world or the next will keep me from returning to you.” Niko kissed him again, still hungry for the taste of him and the feel of his lips. “Be good while I’m away. I’d hate to have to punish you.”
Niko actually laughed softly, his insides warmed slightly. He looked up at Cobalt with a sly smirk. “You know me. I’m never good.”
With one last kiss, Cobalt released him and transformed, perhaps moving quickly for both their sakes. It took only moments before he was completely submerged, his glorious, beautiful Waterdancing form glimmering in the light reflects of the water. He flicked his tail at Niko as he swam away, the bag over one shoulder and scroll in one clawed hand. Niko watched him go, the waves pushing through him, the tides changing around him. And something about the steady push and pull of the water calmed his heart, reassured him that Cobalt would return, just like the tide did. And a strange feeling slowly blossomed inside Niko, a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a long time. He watched the last sight of Cobalt disappear, as he first showed up, into the blue.
Niko felt happy.
Acknowledgements
This book was an adventure and an endurance run, challenging me in ways other stories have not. Though it didn’t always take the turns I expected it to, this story was one I felt I needed to see through to the end, to explore in depth and let free. It was also meant to be a stand-alone (part of my Three Courts series), but Niko informed me, partway through, that he had other ideas. So, fear not, there will be a follow-up to this sort of bittersweet, happy-for-now ending.
I’d like to express my thanks to everyone who helped me through the writing of this book but also to those who have helped me through all my previous books. To my readers, who have made it possible for me to do this, I can never fully express the depths of my gratitude and love. And to those who have reviewed previous books, I am forever in your debt. I hope you enjoyed this on
e too, and if you did, it would mean the world to me if you could take a moment to leave a review. Reviews keep me writing and tell me which books (and what parts) you enjoyed and might like more of.
If you’d like to keep track of my new releases, my writing process, and what inspires me, you can follow me on Twitter, or follow my author page on Amazon. You can also sign up for my newsletter here. You’ll get an email as soon as I release a new book. I also have certain books released on Smashwords. I’m always happy to engage with readers, so feel free to reach out!
Other Titles by Lyra Evans
The Worth Series
Worth a Shot
Worth the Trouble
Worth the Wait
The Complete Collection
The Three Courts Series
Irons in the Fire
Ice Over Brook
Heart of Stone
Smashwords Titles
Our Gentle Sin
Worth a Shot (Book 1 of The Worth Series)
Explore the Three Courts from the beginning!
Detective Oliver Worth has everything he needs—the job he always wanted and a knack for picking one-night stands. When a high-born Witch is found murdered on the steps of Nimueh’s Court, Oliver is given the case of the century—because no one else will touch it. Not when it looks like the murder was committed by a Werewolf.
The Treaty between the Courts of Nimueh and Logan has stood for over a hundred years, and peace was hard-won. If a Werewolf is responsible, the murder counts as an act of war and would plunge both kingdoms into chaos. Something Oliver’s Captain is keen to point out.
Treading lightly, Oliver has no choice but to venture alone into Logan’s Court to investigate. The trail of clues leads right to Connor Pierce, a newly minted Alpha of Logan’s kin. Connor is gorgeous and captivating and absolutely a suspect. Determined to do his job and catch the killer, Oliver finds he’s now got more to worry about than an inter-kingdom war. He tries to ignore his growing desire, but Connor keeps drawing him in. Everything about Connor is intoxicating, and Oliver isn’t sure how long he can fight off temptation…
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