Empire Island, Exile the First

Chapter 30

Phoenix came before food, however hungry I was. I was hollow from hunger, but the need to save my sister was even greater despite the roiling protests in my stomach.

It could wait, I wasn't exactly on the verge of starvation or anything, and connecting Empire magic with the well source would be like plugging in a power cord to recharge my batteries. I'd give me the boost I needed.

"We need to get to the cave," I told my aunts after it seemed like everybody had survived Uruk'Zu's hypnotic spell. "I have the smallest amount of Empire magic left, I feel it bouncing around in there. And there's Phoenix..."

My voice trailed off because I didn't know what to say about my sister. Anything that would come out was going to either be me screaming in horror at what I suspected had become of her, or me breaking down sobbing because I felt directly responsible for her predicament.

"Phoenix," Day repeated after me like a hymnal, like we paid homage to somebody already gone.

"I'm not giving up on her. I took her through the portal to Sweden, so I can go back and bring her home," I said, walking away, heading towards the beach near the cave.

"Sweden?" Calla asked, scrambling to catch up with me for once. "Why on Earth would you have sent her there?"

"It's kind of a weird story," I said and kept walking just to avoid eye contact.

"Weirder than all of this?" Day asked, catching up to the two of us. "How is that even possible?"

"The portal took me there even though I had intended elsewhere," I said, still avoiding looking at either of them. I knew what their reactions would be, joy and excitement over the fact that notorious loner Kairos Empire had found her bond mate. They finally started planning the wedding they'd dreamed of from the moment they'd met me, their guardian niece.

I didn't want to see it, and I certainly didn't want to hear it. I had one thing on my mind, retrieving Phee so we could fix her as soon as we could get her home.

But. And there was a but. There's always a but when an attractive man is involved. But...my brain veered sideways when I thought about Sorin and my heart did this ridiculous little pitter patter at the thought of his handsome face and tall, muscled body.

God, when had I ever been so materialistic and obsessed with looks that I'd become obsessed with some dude who looked like he could have stepped out of any Hollywood cliché as the hot Viking?

"She's not telling us something," Calla announced behind me.

"That's pretty obvious," Day agreed.

"I'll bet it's a big deal," Calla said, and I heard the smug anticipation in her voice.

"I'll bet it's a really big deal. Like big enough that two families might come together to celebrate something amazing because two people have found each other at last," Day replied and her words dripped with the excitement of seeing her flighty niece chained down to a dick and a rock. A dick, well that was obvious, and a rock being Empire. If I did hook up with Sorin, it'd be game over for my freedom. I'd be trapped here popping out babies every year like a good little guardian broodmare.

And I still wasn't having any of it.

I stopped dead, feeling them both hit the back of me as they kept walking. I turned, glowering at them with what I hoped was a withering warning and said, "Enough. I did meet Sorin, my bond mate, but it's not happening. So whatever you're thinking about back there, stop it. We have my sister to save, the island to hand over, and me to go on my merry way and live my life how I want."

Their eyes were matching ovals of surprise and alarm. I turned back and kept walking, immediately feeling like an ungrateful ass for my actions. It wasn't that I hated the idea of sliding up and down Sorin's body, feeling him inside of me and gripping him tighter with my thighs around his waist as I rode him...