CRACK!
The sound echoes through the room like thunder. The binding breaks in my chest like a rope snapping under too much tension. The force of it makes me arch, crying out into Julia’s mouth.
She bites back a cry too, gripping my shoulder so tight it hurts.
The windows rattle. The fire surges, threatening to reach out of the hearth and burn the house down.
Abruptly, the room falls silent.
I go limp, too exhausted to move. I can only lie there as Julia collapses next to me, her body warm and comforting against mine.
We stare at each other in shock, breathing hard.
The fire has settled back to normal, crackling softly. The shadows on the walls grow still again. Everything feels too quiet after the explosion of magic.
“We broke the binding,” Julia finally whispers.
“Yes.” The word barely comes out.
I wait for relief to flood through me. For the joy of being free.
Instead, there’s just…emptiness. It’s like something has been surgically removed from my chest, leaving a hollow space where it used to live.
Which is ridiculous. We severed a curse that would have bound us until death.
Then, to my surprise, Julia smiles. It’s not her usual smirk or sneer, just a genuine, pure smile that transforms her whole face. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
She leans closer and kisses me.
It’s different from before, gentle and unhurried. No teeth, no bruising pressure. She tilts her head to fit us together better, and her hand comes up to cup my cheek with a tenderness I didn’t know she possessed, her thumb stroking my cheekbone. I kiss her back just as carefully, hardly daring to move and shatter the moment.
When she pulls back, we both freeze.
Her eyes widen as she realizes what she’s done.
We just kissed. Without any spell forcing us together. Just her lips on mine because she wanted them there.
I search her face, looking for regret or horror. But all I see is the same confusion I feel.
Should we be pulling away from each other, embarrassed by what the spell made us do? Because instead, that kiss feels like the most real thing that’s happened all night.
I wait for her to say something. To acknowledge what happened between us and reaffirm that she meant what she said.
But she just lies back down next to me and stares at the ceiling, her jaw tight.
I’m suddenly hyperaware of our nakedness, of the marks covering our bodies, of the lingering taste of her on my tongue. The spell is gone, but I still want to be close to her.
“So.” My voice comes out too high. “That’s it, then. We’re free.”
“Yes.” She spots her discarded clothes and summons them with magic. “Free.”
The word hangs between us like a question neither of us knows how to answer. Without the binding spell, what are we? What do we want to be?
Julia pulls on her chemise, still not looking at me. “I suppose I wasn’t the only one who needed to surrender.”
My face heats up. Of course she figured out what I was doing.
She doesn’t say anything else, and the silence feels worse than an argument. Is she angry? Does she regret what she said?
