“Deedee is the Witch’s daughter, Ordus.” I force out the words between bouts of energy. “She’s the reason your lands remain Cursed.” My voice is raspy like it hasn’t been used in days. “I can feel it, Ordus. The Curse. It—it’s in me. It’s there.”

Ordus slows to a stop, and I have half a mind to survey my surroundings, but I can’t bring myself to turn my head.

“We—we need to talk,” I pant, held upright by his hands around my back and cupping my cheek. “About the Curse.”

“I failed you,” Ordus rasps against my lips.

I shake my head, fighting another wave of fatigue. “You didn’t.” My voice is barely above a whisper as I try to keep myself together. “Take me home.”

The request turns his expression tortured. “You can leave, Cindi. Move away from the krakens and those who wish you harm.”

Grief hits me at the thought of leaving behind the cave and the beach I know better than the back of my hand. It’s like I’m losing someone I care about, and I refuse to go through it again. In the past five years, all I’ve done is lose: Dad, my college friends, my freedom. Enough is enough.

I’m not going to let myself lose the one place I’ve felt any semblance of safety. No one is allowed to take that away from me. Deedee herself confirmed I’m the only one who can end the Curse. That gives me massive bargaining power with the krakens.

We can swing it somehow.

Vasz wedges himself in the gap between our torsos, subtly licking my face as he loops around me to circle the area again. There’s no universe where I could leave him behind either. I don’t care if I have to spend every waking moment in a state of panic; this is Vasz’s home as well, and I won’t do anything to cause him discomfort. He’s my dog as well.

“There’s nowhere Vasz and you can go other than the mainland.”

Ordus shakes his head stiffly. “No, Cindi. You must leave. I would rather become one with the sea alone than be the reason you get hurt.”

My lips part. He’s… Tears spring to my eyes, and I swallow down a sob. “No. You—you—” I choke on the words. He can’t. He’s not allowed to die. He’s not allowed to tell me to leave.

I shove him in the chest. “No!”

“Cindi, please.” His forehead wrinkles like he’s in agony. “I—I cannot keep you safe. I⁠—”

“I don’t give a shit,” I scream, shoving him again. Face riddled with guilt, he drops his arms to his sides. “I don’t care about safety. I don’t want to run anymore, don’t you get that? I’d much rather die than live a life in which I constantly feel like I’m dying—because that’s not living. Life shouldn’t be torture. I’d prefer risking death if it means I can be happy.”

He reaches for me, and I wrap my hands around the back of his neck. “You wish to stay?”

“Yes.” Without a doubt.

“With me?” he says uncertainly.

“Always.” As soon as the word is past my lips, worry strikes.

Ordus still thinks I’m his mate.

He thinks his fated mate just accepted him—the one thing he wanted most.

“Take me to your island.” If he decides he’d rather search for the one the Goddess chose for him, I’d at least like to say goodbye to my home for the past month and collect my things.

“Our island,” Ordus corrects. “Yours and mine.”

“Yes.” I nod, tasting bile as I unthread my fingers from his hair to place my hand over his, pressing a kiss to his inner wrist. “Yours and mine. Take us home, Ordus.”

It’ll be my home if you let it.

“Cindi,” a honeyed voice whispers beside my ear, stirring me awake.

I groan, blinking against the line of harsh blue light before we’re plunged into darkness. The cold bite of the water only adds to my exhaustion. My eyelids droop closed again, and a wave of nausea has me whimpering, curling into Ordus’ chest.

“I have you, little mate,” he croons. A big hand rubs over my back as he tucks me tight up against him, bridal style. “You are safe.”

A soft purr vibrates against my arm as I try to orient myself to the present. Memories flash of Deedee, bloodshed, and the stone-cold relief of feeling Ordus’ warmth against me.

Muted pain presses against the front of my cranium, like there’s a hundred-pound weight sitting on it, and any second, my head is going to go splat.

I can feel the Curse like it’s a living entity within me, a void of bleak nothingness with fangs and an insatiable hunger for blood. Breathing and hissing, it claws at the inside of my skin, trying to break free. I can feel it gnawing away at my life force. Unless I can rip it out of me, it’s going to kill me.

“Are we here?” I grumble, nuzzling into the crook of Ordus’ neck, wishing I could sleep for just a few more hours, or days. I’m so tired, I never want to wake up again.

Water sluices down my arm as I bring it into the air dome to rub my eyes. I cringe as the bubble bursts, and I push past the surface of the water into the pool. He sets me down on my side on the padded floor and rushes around the cave in a flurry. My eyes drift shut, and I fall victim to the darkness again.

Loud clattering jars me out of sleep. I blink my bleary eyes up at Ordus as he hunches down beside me, a tray in hand that he sets on the floor. He pulls me upright against him, using his tentacles as cushioning and support. My brows pinch as I try to make out the myriad of objects on it: water, pill bottle, protein bar, a pestle and mortar of something that looks like healing poultices, and a little green jar he cracks open and brings to my lips.

The putrid smell assaults my nostrils, and my gag reflex immediately kicks in. Chicken Essence. I could identify that stench anywhere.

I unlock my jaw and swallow it down in a single go, willing my body not to throw it back up. It settles unhappily in my stomach, but Ordus wastes no time offering me a couple of gulps of water before forcing me to eat the entire protein bar and painkillers. I don’t have the heart to tell him nothing he’s doing is going to fix what’s wrong or change the inevitable.

“Ordus,” I whisper, feeling energy trickle back into me as his warmth seeps into my body.

Rubbing his hand over my legs and arms like he’s making sure I’m in one piece, he cradles the back of my head against his chest. “Rest, mate. We will speak once you are better.”

I shake my head, weakly pushing against him. I look up to meet his frown, and I almost burst into tears. What if I lose him? What if I tell him the truth about what we are to each other, and he rejects me? This island will be torn from my grasp, I’ll never see Vasz again, and Ordus… I can’t do it.

I don’t want to think about a future in which I won’t have him. I don’t want the only thing driving me forward to be a fear of everything.

Panic flares in Ordus’ expression as my eyes water, and he starts rubbing the back of my neck. It wouldn’t be fair of me to trap Ordus when he has spent his life praying to the Goddess for a mate who isn’t me. He—he wants a fucking kraken.

I blink back tears. “I am the destined bride who will end the Curse. But Ordus… I—” I choke, not wanting to say the words. Just a month ago, I was wishing I meant nothing to him. Now, it kills me that I’ll get what I asked for. I take a deep breath that does nothing to steel me. “I’m not your mate.”

“You are,” Ordus responds instantly.

“No, I’m not.” He’s making this so much harder than it needs to be. “You only thought I was because of the mark Deedee tattooed on my back. You—it’s only because I carry the Curse.”

He carefully arranges me so I’m facing him, propped up against his tentacles. His warm hand moves to cup my cold cheek while he twines his fingers with mine. “You are my mate, Cindi. Fated mate or not, I choose you. If you do not want to marry me, I will still choose you. If you want to leave this island and move to a faraway land, I will follow, because I still choose you.”