Page 110 of Soul of Fire

Not sure. Baldur edged backward, his eyes fixed on his mate.Wait.

Idunn roared, and her fire intensified. I imagined the land knitting back together. The Tear against her heart glowing the same blue as the fire as it embedded itself over her heart.

One moment, the blue dragon stood on the edge of utter blackness. And then suddenly she was a woman again, small and pale and fragile as she fell to her knees.

Eisa!Baldur shifted, and I caught her before she toppled over, a stream of red dribbling from her nose.

“I tried.” She wiped her hand over her face, shaking as I helped her sit. The necklace was dull and lifeless against her chest, the diamond scar unchanged beneath it. “Nothing happened. I don’t know what to do.”

“It’s fine, Kjære.” I held her tightly as she shivered and buried my face in her hair, breathing in her scent of night roses. “It was a long shot. We need to study the Book. Find out more.”

Perhaps the Book was the problem. Could it stop her from using whatever magic she needed to use to close the Rift?

“Your mother.” Eisa struggled, and I helped her stand. “We need to find her. Idunn says someone is still alive in the castle.”

Baldur growled protectively at the idea of letting Eisa anywhere near the crumbling castle.There is one heartbeat. But I do not know if it is her.

Fucking gods, I prayed she’d made it out alive.

“I’ll find my mother,” I said, shaking Eisa’s shoulders gently but firmly. “Not you. You should stay out here. Or better yet, shift back and fly as far away from here as you can get.”

“There is no way I’m letting you go in there alone,” Eisa said, color returning to her cheeks. She paused, canting her head, thenreached for the pack that held our clothes and the Book. “Idunn agrees with me.”

“Baldur agrees withme,“ I argued, grabbing her hand before she could reach into the bag. “Every single fiber in my being is telling me this is a bad idea, Kjære. The Book weakens you. Who knows what caused this thing to open up, but I doubt it’s something friendly. If you go in there now—“

She melted into me, her arms wrapping tightly around my waist.

“I know. I know you are frightened. I’m scared too.” She looked up at me, her eyes big and blue and full of fire. “But I willnotlose you. You will not loseme. I have Idunn. You have Baldur. We will both shift the moment they sense danger. And I will burn anyone who tries to take you from me to ash.”

Gods, I fucking loved this woman. She didn’t try to fix me. Try to reason with me. She made space for my fear. Shared the burden.

It wouldn’t be fair to withhold my trust from her.

She is strong,Baldur said, trying to reassure himself as much as me.Idunn will protect her.

“Promise me,” I said, pulling back so I could meet her gaze, “that you will run if something happens.”

She smiled sadly and shook her head. “I can’t leave you. I won’t. Not unless you make the same promise to me.”

I blew out a breath. She knew I couldn’t. “Stubborn woman.”

“Bossy man.” She reached onto her tiptoes and brushed a gentle kiss across my lips. “Clothes now. Evil won’t fight itself.”

“And I’m the bossy one.”

She threw a shirt at me.

I felt naked without a weapon, but the priestesses had nothing other than blunt kitchen knives, so I would be relying on Baldur’s flame and teeth and claws. I didn’t bother with my jacket or boots. Didn’t want to lose them if I had to shift in a hurry.

“Ready?” Eisa braided her hair back, her borrowed dress stained from wear, and a smear of blood still coloring her upper lip.

She was so lovely.

I nodded, slinging the pack over my shoulder. I didn’t want to risk the Book, but I couldn’t leave it out here unguarded either. “Don’t wait to shift. If there are odemarksdyr—“

“I know,” she said, squeezing my hand and giving me an exasperated look.

“Or if my father—“