“He didn’t,” she whispers, her eyes searching mine. “You stopped him, Andrik.”
“Barely,” I snap.
Whatever dark magic he used held me under like a god's hand, shoving my face beneath black water. I felt her the entire time—felt her confusion, her heat, her desperate, terrified need. I was a prisoner in my own mind, screaming, clawing at the walls of the spell while he—while hetouchedmy saelûn.
“Andrik.” She cups my face, her tiny fingers pulling my face to meet hers.”I’m here. I’m safe. You saved me.”
“I should never have left you.” My voice shakes. “I should have known.”
“Neither of us knew.” Her thumb brushes my cheek, but then her back arches. A violent spasm seizes her body. She gasps, doubling over in my arms.
She was so close to sealing the bond, and now it’s howling for what it was promised.
“I need to seal it,” I murmur. “Now. Before the moon sets. Before anything else tries to take you.”
I adjust my hold and start walking toward the one place where this can be made right. I feel it before I see it—the pull ofsacred ground. The air hums with the energy of ancient magic woven into the roots of my forest.
The clearing appears through the trees. A haven of emerald moss untouched by snow. Birch trees surround us with a faint, bioluminescent pulse.
I stop at the edge, my heart hammering against my ribs. This is it. Once we cross this line, our souls will be fused.
“Are you ready?” I ask softly.
Lumi looks up at me. Her eyes are glassy with fever, but beneath the haze, there’s a clarity of trust.
“I’ve been ready since the moment I met you,” she whispers.
I step over the threshold.
WHOOSH.
The ring of godfire ignites instantly. Blue flames erupt from the earth in a perfect circle around us—cold fire that doesn’t consume, but creates a barrier between us and the rest of the universe. A witness. A blessing.
Lumi gasps as the blue light reflects in her eyes. I lower her onto the soft moss. The sheet falls away, and she is bare before me in the moonlight, blue shadows cast across her flushed skin.
She is the only thing I have ever wanted.
She reaches for me.
“Andrik, please. I can’t wait.”
“Not yet.” I catch her wrists gently, pinning them above her head, “There’s something I must do first.”
I release one of her hands and extend a single claw. I drag it across my palm—a single clean line. Blood wells up immediately, dark against my light fur.
“Andrik—”
I take her hand in mine, cradling it. “Do you trust me, Saelûn?”
“Yes.” She answers without hesitation.
I press the tip of my claw to her palm. She doesn’t flinch. I make one quick stroke, as painlessly as I can. Her blood rises to meet mine.
I press our palms together. The moment our blood mingles, magic erupts through us like lightning.
“Blood to blood. Soul to soul. We begin and end here. Until the stars go dark.”
The instant the words leave my mouth, the entire forest shudders.
