Chapter Thirty
Kaspyn stepped onto the porch of her bungalow feeling refreshed and thoroughly loved. She’d been tucked away inside her dwelling for days without emerging, simply basking in the love she and Thrasher made, and marveling at how quickly he’d healed.
Thrasher stepped out behind her. “They’re readying the yacht to sail out tonight. I’ll miss this place.”
“Me too,” Kaspyn replied, watching the waves crash along the shore. “It will always remind me of you and the love we shared in this bungalow.”
He stepped up and wrapped his arms around her from behind, his mouth resting next to her ear. “We have the rest of our lives to make love, this was only the beginning.”
Klause rounded the corner just then, Naura and Tony by his side.
Tony spoke first. “It’s about time ya’ll came out of there. I was about to send Naura in after you.”
Naura grinned. “Do not listen to him. He kept me hidden away for at least a week before we returned to the halls of Aukrabah.”
“I did not need nor did I want to know that,” Klause declared, shaking his head. He shifted his gaze to Thrasher. “Are you feeling well enough to travel?”
Kaspyn felt Thrasher’s nod. “I feel great. I’ll be ready to go when it’s time to set sail.”
“Oz will be returning to Aukrabah with us. Word has reached him that President Mendoza grows suspicious of his knowledge of the Bracadytes. Oz feels that it would benefit he and Maria to go below for a while.”
Kaspyn rested her hands on the bungalow’s porch railing. “What of his hotel? And the spy he had in his midst?”
“The spy has been dealt with. As for the hotel, he might never rebuild. Oz claims that he is interested in building cabins and bungalows on the Choctawhatchee Bay in Freeport. President Pratt has promised his protection if Oz decides to take up residence in the states.”
Kaspyn considered that for a moment. “How was he able to locate the spy?”
“Zaureth,” Klause, Tony, and Naura all chorused at once.
Kaspyn chuckled. “Ah yes, the great mind bender.”
“You are a very powerful mind bender yourself,” Klause praised, sending Kaspyn a smile. “We would be honored to have you stay in Aukrabah.”
Thrasher let go of her and moved to stand by her side. “Kaspyn and I are mated now. She will be staying.”
Klause nodded, bowed slightly, and turned to go. “I will see you on the yacht.”
“You’re riding back with us?” Thrasher called out.
The king glanced back over his shoulder. “I am getting up in age. I think I would prefer to sail home as appose to swimming.” He grinned and disappeared through the shrubs.
“I forgot to ask him,” Thrasher thoughtfully murmured, “how he knew to show up when he did.”
Naura took hold of Tony’s hand. “My mate informed me of what had happened. He pleaded with me to ask my father for help to rescue you. Though he need not have. Klause would have come regardless.”
Kaspyn could feel Thrasher’s emotions as if they were her own. The surprise and gratitude he felt at Naura’s words seeped into her to settle in her heart. They cared for him. They had become his family, which made them hers as well.
“And what of the rest?” Kaspyn inquired. “Will they be joining us on the yacht?”
Tony shook his head. “Just Brant, Naura, Oz, Maria, and Carmen.”
That surprised Kaspyn. “Carmen will be coming with us to Aukrabah?”
“Oz feels responsible for her,” Tony replied. “He took her in a few years back and gave her a home. From what I understand, she had a pretty hairy past.”
Kaspyn recalled what she’d seen in the tiny human’s memories. “That, she did.”
* * * *
The trip back to Aukrabah was a smooth one. Though most of the Bracadytes had preferred to swim, Zyen remained on the yacht. Kaspyn had noticed the Arkadian warrior watching the tiny human, Carmen, when he thought no one was looking.
Kaspyn approached Zyen where he stood on the deck, staring out over the water. “I will not be returning to Arkadia with you and the others.”
Zyen stiffened but didn’t argue. “I assumed that you would not. Your father will not be happy.”
“I am aware. But I am mated now, and I must remain by my mate’s side. It is the Bracadyte way.”
“You love him.” It wasn’t a question and she knew it.
She simply nodded.
Zyen glanced over at her. “I never would have imagined you mating with a land walker, before our arrival in Aukrabah. You held quite a lot of hate in your heart for them…as did I.”
“Does it trouble you that I have given my heart to a human?”
Zyen stared out over the water, his hands gripping the railing in front of him. He didn’t answer for long moments. “Had you asked me that same question a fortnight ago, I would have answered yes. But, no, it troubles me not. I have come to see that the land walkers are not much different from us. They feel, they love, they laugh, and they have families.”
Kaspyn had to admit to being more than a little surprised by Zyen’s response. “You can stay in Aukrabah, Zyen. I am certain that Klause—”
“No,” he interrupted, a muscle tightening along his jaw. “I cannot stay. My place is in Arkadia. It is the only home I have ever known.”
Kaspyn touched him on the arm and turned to leave. “Change is not always a bad thing, Zyen of Arkadia. I wish you well.”