My Second Chance Mate is a Barbarian (Sera and Fenris) novel Chapter 83

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Sera

I watched the stubborn defiance vanish from her eyes, instantly replaced by stark, naked terror. She stared at me, her chest rising and falling rapidly as the reality of my threat settled onto her face. She knew I wasn't bluffing.

After a long, suffocating silence, her shoulders slumped.

She let out a shaky sigh. "Fine."

Irina rubbed her temples. "But how am I supposed to get the ingredients I need? The ritual requires very specific things. I need thick leaves. I need dark soil. There is no form of greenery in this frozen wasteland."

I cursed internally. That was true. I had hoped there would have been a simpler way to do it, or that she probably moved around with her own supplies in her luggage.

Irina shrugged, taking a slow step backward toward the washroom. "I am sorry, Sera. If I do not have the ingredients, there is no way I can perform the ritual. Except there is a private garden that somehow survived in this wasteland, I cannot help you."

Private garden.

"Wait," I called out.

Irina stopped near the washroom door.

"Wait right there," I told her. "I know a place."

I grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the guest chamber. We hurried through the dark, winding corridors of the fortress. I led her down to the lower levels, pushing through the heavy iron door that opened into the mountain fissure.

We stepped out into the hidden thermal pocket. The humid air hit our faces.

Irina gasped. She looked around at the towering green trees and the thick vines crawling up the black rock. "How is this possible?" she whispered, amazed to find a garden thriving in the middle of a frozen mountain.