The Crystal Mines

82 Callion

Before the door shut behind Ameer, Dath and Mohan looked at me in question. I shook me head, and the door clicked. Nik whirled on me in anger, shoving me by the shoulders like she had in Ashburn's courtyard. The day we promised each other truth. I staggered back, letting her release her anger at Ameer's admittance.

"Do you feel the same way?" She nearly shouted at me. Trife opened a large eye from his perch on her pillows. Upon seeing no threat, he returned to his nap.

"No. It doesn't matter which one of us is your mate or Twin Flame. Those are just titles created by the gods. What matters is who you choose in the end makes you happy." I shrugged at if the answer were obvious.

It was anything but. If Ameer was her mate, I would be thrilled to see her happy and with someone I loved and trusted beyond all others. But I knew the jealousy would be the end of me.

"But you tried to break our bond, whatever it is!"

The dragon on my back slithered as I fought with the truth. "Yes, I did." I grabbed her hands, knowing she craved the contact and had been since she told us of her conversation with her father. "Because I don't care what the gods, stars, moons, any of them say about who belongs together or not. We choose Nik. We get to decide who is in our life. Did you not choose Faolan as a brother? Did you not choose Ahren as a father? Those things were not fated or given to you. Ameer and Jakota are my chosen brothers. And this," I waved my arms around the room, "this is my chosen family. All of you."

"What if I can't choose?"

I fought the disappointment that came with her confliction. "There are no rules Nik. Take your time and choose when you are ready." I turned her bare arm over and ran my fingertips along the sensitive skin there. She had touched the area where the old tattoo lay earlier, and my heart squeezed for her. "And not choosing, is a choice too. You could easily deny us both and find another. Alden still cares for you deeply. No, let me finish. He is a good male and there are many others out there that would be happy by your side and you with them. Do not limit yourself just because you feel you are bound by some old rule of mates. I'm sure even Slater would be a worthy opponent in your life."

Her head snapped up from watching my fingers on her arm. "Slater?"

I laughed. She had missed his attention completely due to being so focused on Ameer and I. But we had noticed. Their constant back and forth. Getting under each other's skin.

"Yes, Slater. Nik, it would be selfish of me to think that I could hold on to you. And utterly cruel to not consider options beyond Ameer and I." I brought her wrist to my mouth and lay a kiss there, lingering as I took in her intoxicating scent.

I stepped forward to invade her space as I made my intentions clear and kept her hand hostage against my chest. "But should you choose me. Want to be with me, by choice alone, you would know that you weren't forced. A love that went beyond the limits of this world and unstoppable even by the gods fecking rules." I brought my nose to hers and she let her eyes flutter shut for a moment before gazing back at me. "And to me, that means more than learning you were my mate."

Nik released a breath she was holding and understanding crossed over her features.

"A choice." It wasn't question, but an agreement.

"Is that not how you explained it to Mohan in the lab?" I raised an eyebrow.

She laughed and a tear escaped the corner of her eye. "Yes. I did, didn't I."

"Then why should this be any different?"

I watched Nik gather herself and put herself back together, picking up the pieces on her own. I marveled at the strength it took her to do that and was nothing short of proud that she had come so far from the scared young female I had met at the winter ball.

"Ok. Then I will need time. I'm just not sure how much."

"You'll take as much time as you need."

Nik lay her head on my chest, and I nearly collapsed in relief.

I meant every word I said, and she knew it as our dragons danced along our back. I only hoped she didn't hear my unspoken desperation and hope that she would choose me in the end. And not because she felt like she had to, but because she wanted me as much as I wanted her.

With Erix at large and Nik only just beginning to learn the extent of her power we needed all the time any higher power would give. The fact that the gods of this world were simply Elves from another world, worshiped after such a long time, made be become surer that not everything was as it seemed. There were worlds beyond ours, gods called Celestials with more power than we could imagine, and we were Valkyrie. Born for war, for the gods to use as they pleased. As I held the female I love for the last time in a while, I decided that I would discover what it meant for us to be Valkyrie. We would train, grow stronger, and stop Erix from ever becoming Bexian again. After that, the gods were going to learn that no one controlled our lives but us or they would be facing another war. One they didn't see coming.