The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson (me reader TXT) 📕

My shoulders gave a quick shrug. “I promise not t’ knowingly put myself in danger. Best I can offer.”

He moved close to me, slipped a hand on each side of my face. “I s’pose I’ll have t’ take that offer, on one condition.”

I smiled up at him. “Are ya really in a position t’ be makin’ conditions?” I teased.

“No. But we aren’t assured another breath. I told ya I knew the moment we connected the first time, I was all in. I meant it. My condition is this . . .”

Without even giving me a chance to speak, his lips claimed mine with raw emotion. For a moment, time seemed to stop and the tingling that had once existed when we touched evolved until every cell in my being melted and merged with the magic that intertwined with mine. Every stronghold I had been hiding behind crumbled beneath his kiss. I was acutely aware of the softness of his lips against my mouth, of how feverishly he invaded all of my senses, but mostly of the gravitational pull fusing my soul to his.

When he finally pulled back, we stood there, hearts pounding, chests heaving, unable to speak . . . physically. Not that we needed to. Soul bonds offer a connection beyond words and more. The fullness of my energy raced through my veins again. All at once, with blue fire staring into my green gaze, I felt the intensity of his emotion, I understood the depth of his loyalty, I sensed relentlessness in his desire to protect me, and . . . I heard him speak to me without saying a word.

“I have waited a lifetime for you, Aisling O’Cléirigh.”

I hesitated with my response, uncertain how to weave the complexity of my feelings into something that made sense, that truly expressed my affections. I wondered how you tell someone how you feel when just a few words don’t seem sufficient?

“I think ya just told me.” His voice echoed in my head and a satisfied smile overtook his face.

“Wait, you could hear all of that?”

His smile widened into a grin. “Aye. But don’t worry. I’m told the mental link to all thoughts is only open for a short time after a soul bond is established. It should fade.”

“Glad I wasn’t thinking about—”

Cian laughed. “You’re still thinkin’ it, Aish. I hear it. And we will revisit that thought later.” He winked and gave me a quick kiss. “Right now, we have t’ go save the world. Ya ready?”

“Ya say it like it’s somethin’ we do e’ryday. Like goin’ t’ get coffee. Some of us aren’t immortal, ya know.”

“I’ll be right there, lass. Stronger together.”

I huffed, pulled him to me, kissed him once more . . . as if I might never kiss him again. Just in case. Then I took a step back and nodded. “Now I’m ready.”

He let out a hard breath and shook the moment back to reality. “Yeah, okay then. I’ll . . . I’ll wait until I can see you and we will proceed as planned.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed and held on until my fingers slipped from his as I walked away.

I made my way back down the corridor and exited the cavern on the eastern side of the courtyard, not quite opposite of the spot Cian stood waiting to emerge. When I stepped from the cavern entrance, I opened a mental link to him as if I’d done it a million times and it was the most natural thing to do.

“I’m coming up the footpath now,” I informed him. His plan was to step out from the vine-covered tunnel and get to Kage in order to distract him so that I could sneak down the edge of the courtyard and get to the fountain without Kage seeing me.

“I’m heading up the steps t’ the altar, wait for my word.”

I watched through an opening in the bushes as Cian made his way up the steps and realized how dangerously close to them I really was. Close enough I could hear their conversation. Kage turned to speak to Cian as he ascended the last few steps.

“Where is Aisling?” Kage questioned, looking around the courtyard behind him.

I jerked back away from the edge of the bushes to keep out of sight.

“I left her here,” Cian lied. “She was supposed t’ watch the journals until we returned.” He moved around to the opposite side of the altar and began opening one of the journals like he was looking for something.

I eased back to peek through the foliage and saw Kage take one more glance around before he turned his focus to Cian.

“Go! Now!” Cian commanded and reached into his pocket for the wolf’s fang, taking his time so that his action held Kage’s interest while I hurried to the opening that led to the garden.

My foot caught a vine at the top of the garden entrance and nearly sent me plummeting. Loose rocks tumbled down the steps and I glanced back over my shoulder as I tried to detangle myself. Kage began to turn just as Cian knocked one of the books off the altar and pulled Kage’s attention away from me just long enough to free my foot and scramble out of sight.

When I made it to the bottom of the garden steps, I stepped to the side and caught my breath. Time was short, so I regrouped quickly and hurried over to the fountain. I made quick work of replacing the orb that represented the half-moon with the Full Moon Orb the Lunar goddess had given to me. Then, I wrapped the Kanna Stone with the silvery velvet cloth and hid it where the water poured from the pillar into the basin just beneath where the Full Moon Orb sat. Hopefully, it would lead Kage to the Moon Orb and give me the chance to get my hands on the Tartaros Blade before he realized he was