The cave of the Healing Springs was like a dream. The ceiling was covered in glowing blue crystals that looked like stars. Below them, the water was a clear, bright turquoise. It didn't just feel like water; it felt like silk against the skin.
Alaric sat in the shallow part of the pool, his back against a smooth rock. I was cradled in his lap, my head resting on his shoulder. He hadn't let go of me for even a second since we arrived. It was as if he was afraid that if he stopped touching me, I would vanish back into the "book" I came from.
"Does it still hurt?" he whispered. His voice was a low rumble, like the sound of distant thunder.
He picked up a soft sponge and dipped it into the warm water. He gently wiped a smudge of dirt from my cheek. His touch was so light, so careful, as if I were made of thin glass.
"No," I breathed. The water was working its magic. The deep cuts on my wrists from the ropes were closing up. The heavy ache in my bones was starting to melt away. "The water... it feels like it's washing away the memory of the dark."
Alaric stopped moving. He looked at my wrists, where the red marks were fading into pale pink scars. His golden eyes darkened, and the "monster" inside him growled. The water around his legs began to bubble from the heat of his anger.
"I will never forgive myself," he rasped. "I let my pride get in the way. When you told me you were Felina... when you told me about the other world... I was angry. I thought you were playing with me. I let you walk into that hall alone."
I reached up and touched his face. My fingers traced the shimmering scales on his jaw. "You didn't know, Alaric. How could you believe a story so strange? In your world, I was a liar named Seraphina. It's okay to be confused."
"It's not okay," he snapped, but he leaned his face into my hand. "A King protects his Queen. A Dragon protects his heart. I failed both."
He pulled me closer, burying his face in the crook of my neck. I felt his hot breath against my skin, and a sweet "shiver" ran through me. For the first time, I felt his tears—hot and heavy—falling onto my shoulder. The Great Black Dragon, the man who never cried for himself, was crying for me.
"I don't care about the name Seraphina," he whispered into my skin. "I don't care about the Malcor family or the throne. When I was flying over those mountains, I realized that if I lost you, I didn't want the kingdom. I would have burned it all down and lived in the ashes."
The Dragon Heart Stone on my chest glowed a deep, brilliant violet. Through the Soul-Link, I felt the raw power of his obsession. It was "spicy" and intense, but also full of a desperate need to be understood.
'You are mine,' I heard his voice echo in my mind. 'In every world, in every book, you belong to the Dragon.'
"I'm not going anywhere," I promised him. I pulled back and looked into his eyes. "I chose to stay here. I chose to save you because I loved the man in the story. But now... I love the man holding me."
Alaric's gaze dropped to my lips. The atmosphere in the cave shifted. The sadness was still there, but it was being pushed away by a growing, hungry heat. He reached into the water and lifted my hand, kissing each of my fingertips one by one.
"Tell me about Felina," he murmured. "Tell me about the girl who read about me in the rain."
So, as the blue water swirled around us, I told him. I told him about the tall buildings, the cars, and the little bookstore where I spent my afternoons. I told him how I used to stay up late at night, crying because the "Dragon King" was so lonely.
Alaric listened to every word. He didn't think I was crazy anymore. He looked at me with wonder, as if I were a star that had fallen from the sky just for him.
"So, in your world, I was just a tragedy?" he asked with a small, sad smile.
"At first," I said, leaning in to brush my lips against his. "But I decided to give you a happy ending. I decided to make sure the Dragon found his peace."
Alaric's arms tightened around me. He flipped us over in the water so that I was lying against the smooth, warm sand at the bottom of the pool, and he was hovering over me. The water was waist-deep, reflecting the blue light of the crystals onto his bronzed skin.
"I don't need a book to tell me my ending," he whispered, his eyes glowing like embers. "My ending is you. My beginning is you."
He kissed me then—a slow, deep kiss that tasted of jasmine and magic. It wasn't the kiss of a King; it was the kiss of a man who had finally found the other half of his soul. His hands slid along my waist, his touch "spicy" and possessive. The water around us felt like it was charged with electricity.
In that moment, the pain of the last week was gone. The fear was gone. There was only the heat of his body, the sound of the waterfall, and the beautiful, violet glow of the stone.
"We have to go back tomorrow," I whispered against his lips. "The High Priest... Elara's family... they will be waiting."
Alaric pulled back, a dangerous, predatory look crossing his face. He reached out and touched the mark on my neck.
"Let them wait," he growled. "When we return, they will not be meeting the King they once knew. They will be meeting the Dragon who has found his reason to fight. I am going to erase every person who made you cry, Felina. And then, I am going to crown you in front of the whole world."
I smiled, feeling a "shiver" of excitement. I knew the book was over. This was a new story now—a story that belonged only to us.
The Cliffhanger
As we held each other in the water, a sudden sound echoed from the entrance of the cave. It wasn't the sound of an animal. It was the sound of a bell—a silver bell from the High Temple.
Alaric's eyes snapped toward the dark tunnel. His scales began to shimmer with a warning light.
"They found us," he hissed, standing up and pulling me behind his massive frame.
I looked at the tunnel, my heart racing. The High Priest wasn't just coming to talk. He was bringing the Dragon-Slayer Spear, an ancient weapon I had only read about in the secret chapters of the book.
The peace was over. The real war was about to begin.