Page 23 of Taken By the Leviathan King

When her eyes finally opened, they shone with unshed tears and a newfound certainty.

“I saw Earth,” she whispered as the light receded, letting her drift back down beside me. “Not as it is now, with poisoned oceans and dying ecosystems. But healed. Restored.” Her voice strengthened. “The Heart showed me a future where humans and the kingdoms of Sanos work together—our technology and your natural power combining to heal both worlds.”

Hope flared in my chest, sharp and unexpected. “A true alliance, not just sanctuary for your people.”

“More than that.” She turned to face me fully, her expression transformed by what she’d witnessed. “A new beginning for both our species. But it also showed me what happens if Rynor succeeds.” Her voice hardened. “Death. Destruction on a scale that would make Earth’s ecological collapse look merciful.”

The Heart pulsed again, more urgently this time, and I understood what it was telling me. What must be done.

“Imoogeen.” I took both her hands in mine, feeling the weight of generations of Leviathan rulers who had stood in this exact spot. “The Heart has accepted you as my queen, but that makes you a primary target for Rynor. There is a ritual—ancient,seldom used—that would complete your transformation and bind you formally to the Abyss.”

Her eyes searched mine, wary but not retreating. “What would it mean? For me? For us?”

“It would give you full Leviathan abilities while maintaining your human form. You would be stronger, faster, able to command the waters as I do.” I hesitated, knowing the cost. “But it would bind you irrevocably to the Abyss and its fate. If Rynor corrupts the Heart . . .”

“I would feel it. Suffer with it.” She finished my thought, always quick to grasp implications. “And there would be no going back to being fully human.”

I nodded, unwilling to deceive her about the gravity of this choice. “It is your decision, Imoogeen. I will not—”

“Do it,” she interrupted, her voice steady despite the gravity of her choice. “If this is what it takes to stop Rynor and secure a future for both our peoples, then do it.”

The certainty in her voice humbled me. This human woman, thrust into my world against her will, now stood ready to bind herself to its fate forever. For her people. For mine. For us.

I summoned the ancient priests who had been waiting silently in the shadows of the chamber, their forms so still they seemed part of the architecture. They moved forward now, carrying ceremonial implements carved from the same crystal as the Heart.

“The ritual requires an exchange,” I explained as they prepared. “My essence freely given to you, yours to me, beneath the Heart’s witness.”

A small smile curved her lips. “Doesn’t sound so different from what we’ve already done.”

Despite the solemnity of the moment, I found myself smiling in return. “Perhaps less pleasurable, but more permanent.”

The priests began chanting in the ancient tongue, their voices creating harmonics that made the water itself vibrate around us. I must recite the traditional vows, words passed down through countless generations of Leviathan rulers.

I began confidently, the familiar phrases flowing easily, until I reached a particularly complex passage. The ancient word caught in my throat, tangling my tongue momentarily. Imoogeen squeezed my hand—a gesture so human, so uniquely hers, that I couldn’t help smiling even amid the ceremony’s gravity.

The ritual reached its climax as the eldest priest presented a ceremonial blade made of heartstone. I took it, making a shallow cut across my palm before offering the blade to Imoogeen. She didn’t hesitate, drawing it across her own palm with a warrior’s steadiness.

When our bloodied hands clasped, the Heart erupted with a blinding white light, and a wave of raw power surged through me, searing my very essence. The water around us superheated, hissing and bubbling as it was forced into a swirling vortex. I could smell ozone and something ancient, primal, like the birth of stars. My blood sang with hers, a symphony of power and connection that resonated deep within my bones. I felt her blood mingling with mine, her essence becoming part of me as mine flowed into her.

The transformation was immediate and breathtaking. I watched, transfixed, as the delicate scales hardened and darkened, taking on the royal hue of my lineage. A primal surge of possessiveness ripped through me.Mine. She was utterly, irrevocablymine. The delicate scales that had begun to form along her body solidified and strengthened, taking on the royal blue-black hue of my lineage. Her eyes flashed silver momentarily before returning to their human green, now ringed with luminescent silver. Most striking of all, the royal markingsappeared permanently on her skin—subtle enough to pass for tattoos in the human world, but unmistakable to any Leviathan as the sign of a queen.

As the energy subsided, I did something no Leviathan king had done before. I kneeled before her in front of the assembled priests, reversing traditional roles to show that while I am king, she is not beneath me but truly my equal.

“Queen Imoogeen,” I pronounced, my voice carrying through the chamber. “Bonded of the Deep, Shield of Two Worlds.”

The priests murmured in surprise, but none dared object. The Heart had chosen, and its will was absolute.

Imoogeen regarded me with complex emotions swirling in her eyes—wonder, determination, and something deeper that neither of us was quite ready to name. She reached down, offering her hand to raise me back to my feet.

“Rise, Krak’zol,” she said, her voice carrying a new resonance that vibrated through the water. “We have a battle to win.”

Chapter eleven

IMOGEN

Theroyalmarkingsonmy skin pulse with a faint blue glow as I adjust to the weight of my new reality.Queen. The title still feels foreign on my tongue, but the power coursing through my veins is undeniable. I flex my fingers, watching the subtle shimmer of scales catch the ambient light of Krak’zol’s war chamber.

“You’re staring again,” I tell him without looking up. The bond between us has heightened my awareness of his presence—the weight of his gaze is almost physical now.

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