“He is now,” I say, and suddenly I understand what needs to happen.
The bond between us isn’t just connection, it’s transformation.My blood runs through his veins.His essence is written into my cells.We’re not separate anymore.We’re something new.
Something the prophecy never accounted for.
“Prophet.”I move toward the center, toward Vex.“What if it’s not one or the other?What if it’s both?”
“I don’t understand—”
“The original binding used three separate sacrifices.Three deaths.”I reach Vex, take his hands.“But we’re not separate.We’re bonded.What if instead of death, we offer...transformation?”
Prophet’s eyes widen.“A living seal.Using the bond as the anchor point.”He starts to pace, mind racing.“The warden’s bloodline channeled through the vampire’s eternity.It could work.It might actually work.”
“Might?”Blade growls.
“It’s never been attempted!The ritual would have to be completely restructured.I’d need to—” He stops, looking at us.“You’d both be bound.Both tied to this place.Your lives would become the seal.”
“But we’d live,” Vex says.
“Yes.In a sense.”Prophet runs a hand through his sweat-soaked hair.“You’d be more than vampire and human.You’d be guardians.Wardens.Your bond would be what keeps the Khorvath trapped.Break the bond, and the creature goes free.”
“Then we don’t break the bond.”I squeeze Vex’s hands.“Ever.”
“Tessa, this is forever.Literally forever.You’re mortal, you’ll age, you’ll die eventually, but while you live, you’ll be tied here.And when you do die, the bond will have to be transferred to another warden of your bloodline, or—”
“Or I become the sole anchor.”Vex’s voice is calm.“Until I die or the seal finally breaks naturally, centuries from now.”
“Yes.”
Silence falls over the circle as the weight of it settles.
We’d be giving up so much.Freedom.Mobility.The ability to ever leave this territory.Our lives would become about this place, this seal, this eternal vigil.
But we’d have each other.
“Do it,” I say.
“Tessa—”
“Do it, Prophet.Rewrite the ritual.Make us the anchor.”
Vex’s hands tighten on mine.“You’re sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything.”I lean into him, feeling his coldness and my warmth meeting in the space between.“Besides, you made me fall in love with this frozen wasteland.Seems fitting we’d be stuck here forever.”
His laugh is half-sob.“When you put it that way.”
“I need your consent,” Prophet says.“Both of you.Freely given.No coercion, no bargains.Just choice.”
“I consent.”Vex doesn’t hesitate.
“I consent.”
“Then...”Prophet’s eyes begin to glow, brighter than I’ve ever seen.Divine light pours from him, and his voice shifts, becoming layered with harmonics that don’t belong in human throats.“Let it be done.”
The ritual transforms.
Words change mid-verse, ancient syllables reshaping into something new.The symbols on the stones rewrite themselves, glowing patterns shifting to accommodate our presence.The dome of light solidifies, pressing down on the Khorvath with renewed force.
