Page 6 of An Archer's Redemption

“Gods of the sea? When did you get religious?”

The ocean was so lovely. I couldn’t picture it angry.

She snorted. “I am the Keeper of Magic. How could I not wonder at what hands guided our paths?”

Ayden lifted a brow but held his tongue when I shook my head. If my mother started walking a philosophical route, we might never get to eat.

As if her mother’s instinct had heard my thoughts, Kelså spoke as she turned toward the cavern’s entrance. “I made breakfast if you are hungry. I know it is early, but I have seen both of you eat.”

“Hey!” I protested as Ayden and I stood. “We’re growing boys. We need to maintain—”

“Pshaw. Atikus raised you. That means youneverstop eating. Come on.” She laughed and slapped my arm. Her light tone sobered as she said, “Besides, your journey calls.”

“How . . . ?” Ayden and I shared a baffled look. “How did you know we wanted to leave today? I was planning to talk to you this morning about it but hadn’t figured out how.”

“You will learn that a motheralwaysknows, especially when it involves her baby leaving the nest.”

I snorted and looked into her twinkling eyes. “Baby?”

She reached up and cupped my cheek. “You will always be my baby boy, and don’t you forget it.”

Ayden elbowed me. His annoyingly handsome smirk was on full display as he mouthed, “Baby Dec.”

I resisted the urge to shove him into one of the stone pillars.

Kelså rolled her eyes, her smile brighter than the sunrise. “I still want to hear more about what happened with Saltstone and Irina. I did not press when you first arrived, but it is important I know everything before you leave.”

“Not the best breakfast conversation, but it’ll have to do. After you.”

As we wound our way through the ancient tunnels, Ayden’s hand rubbed my neck. His touch was never far when we were near, and I relished each moment. How anyone could love another so deeply, so completely, was baffling to me. And yet, a single glance from Ayden Byrne could reduce me to a gibbering idiot.

By the lazy arc of the island’s sun, we’d spent a few months together on Rea Utu. Battles and wars felt so distant. All that mattered was being together, feeling Ayden close, getting to know my mother and becoming a family.

I had a family now.

The Mages raised me. Atikus was like a father. And Keelan . . .

Kee had always been like part of my soul.

But now, I had a mother who loved me, a mother who wanted me with her, who cared what I thought and felt. I had never known that kind of love. Not from anyone.

And Ayden . . . he was something altogether different.

I could not begin to reckon how long we had known each other. Mainland time and island time moved so differently that the present and past seemed muddled in my mind. However long it had been, each day felt new and fresh, like the beginning of a new eternity with a man who made me want to savor life with every breath.

How could anyone affect me so, wriggle their way beneath my skin and live within my heart and soul?

How could anyone fuel my joy and inhabit my dreams?

I found I no longer cared for answers to those questions.

Ayden did all of those things, and I was a better man for it.

I was better because of him.

Kelså bristled when I first arrived with him by my side—not because I was with a man, but because I had violated the island’s sacred rules.

The security of the Well had always been sacrosanct. It always would be.

---