Page 32 of Unbroken Magic

His lips twitched, but he returned his attention to the map. Within a few minutes, we were strolling down the next corridor, torches flickering on either side of us.

“Taraghlan sure managed to make this place creepy as hell,” I muttered.

Nathaniel was silent, clearly still thinking about the ward.

I sighed. “I couldn’t take the thought of you getting hurt again. You want to protect me, and I get that, but I want to protect you too.”

My mind replayed the sight of him skewered with that metal bolt, and I shuddered. Nathaniel’s expression softened.

“I was put on this earth to protect you,” he said. “My wolf exists to keep you safe.”

“That’s all good and well, but if you want our mating to work—”

“Oh, it will work,” he said, a hint of warning in his tone. I ignored him.

“Then you have to let me protect you, too.”

He didn’t like it. But he let out a sigh and pulled me close to him. I listened to the steady thump of his heart against my ear, and my eyes grew heavy.

“Well, well, well,” Kyla said from behind us. I whirled, and her pointed glance took in just how close I was standing to Nathaniel. “I leave you two crazy kids alone for a couple of hours and look what happens.”

I grinned at her unrepentantly. “What can I say? He convinced me.”

Nathaniel just laughed, pulling my hand up to his mouth and pressing kisses along my wrist.

“You smell like a cross between shit and vomit,” Kyla said. “You truly must have Nathaniel wrapped around your little finger if he’s willing to put his mouth anywhere near you.”

“Charming,” I muttered. “I killed a Nothir.”

She raised one eyebrow. “Aren’t they slow as hell?”

I glowered at her. “Only when they’re turning. And their tentacles are fast.”

She grinned, clearly pleased to have gotten a reaction from me. “Since none of us had any luck, I’m guessing the sword is in the armory. It should be through that door,” Kyla said, nodding toward the door at the end of the corridor.

We all turned and trudged toward the door. Nathaniel pushed it open.

“All I can hope is that this golden sword isactuallygold. Because if we have to search through thousands of swords— Well, fuck.”

We all stopped and stared at the hydra. Stared at its many, many heads. “Oh goodie,” I said dully. “More snakes.”

Kyla shrugged. “Three of us, nine heads.”

“I’ll take the right side,” I said.

“I’m in the middle,” Nathaniel said, surprising no one. Of course he’d want to be where he could intervene if either of us needed him. I gave him a look that said I knew his game, but he was already stripping off his clothes.

One of the hydra’s heads slithered toward us, and my mouth went watery. I reallyhatedsnakes.

Kyla sighed. “Something tells me it’ll be best if I’m wolf for this. You want to try shooting the thing, Evie?”

“The last creature I shot ate my bullets and spat them back out,” I muttered. But I pulled my Beretta anyway, aiming at the closest head.

The hydra moved so fast it was a blur. My bullet hit the wall behind it.

“The gun is out. We need to cut off its heads. There’s a problem, though.”

“What kind of problem?” Nathaniel was studying the hydra as if its existence personally offended him.

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