Alora’s gaze flicked over him, taking in the subtle tremor in his hands, the cold sheen of sweat on his skin.
He felt everything too sharply now. The rawness of his voice. The sting in his joints. The pounding in his chest. No, even mortal he refused to show any weakness. This was merely another difficulty he would resolve.
Rune crossed his arms, forcing his stance into lazy confidence. “Do not mistake this for mortality,” he drawled. “I am not so easily undone.”
A sharp ache ripped across his back again. He ignored it. He had endured worse. He would never say that aloud, but from her expression, Alora saw through him anyway. Saw him for what he was now.
A powerless,mortalman.
The balance between them had shifted.
Catastrophically. And he fought the instinct to instantly rip back what was his.
Alora paced the small cottage, her steps uneven. “Gods, how can this happen? How do I give your powers back?”
The air around her rippled like an iridescent haze, raw magic unsure of itself. With every movement, the candle flames bent toward her like flowers to sunlight. Her steps left behind scorched imprints on the floorboards. The shadows,hisshadows, clung to her now. They coiled at her wrist like smoke answering a master’s call.
Rune glowered at them. “If I knew, it never would have occurred in the first place.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t mean to take it.”
“Stole,”he corrected with a faint smirk.
“I find you far too unruffled for a Demon King who’s been robbed of his magic!” She threw up her hands. “Aren’t you livid that your wife stripped you of your power? Don’t you have the urge to kill me and take it back? Don’t you fear what your court will say?”
Rune’s smirk grew into a full smile.
“What?” Alora frowned, touching her cheek as if she feared the magic had also changed her features.
“You called yourself mywife.”
He couldn’t help how pleased that made him. It was enough to make up for everything else.
Her face reddened and she scowled. “Rune, this is serious. Why are you laughing?”
“Well, you, destroying everything in sight makes this sodelightful,” Rune said, lips twitching.
She glanced at the outline of her footprints wreathed in flame and groaned, rubbing her face. “How can you find this amusing?” she exasperated. “This is terrible.Dangerousfor both of us!”
The shadows writhed, lashing against the walls and splintering wood.
Rune didn’t hesitate this time. He took her chin, making her look at him. “Breathe.”
At his touch, she closed her eyes and took a shaky breath. The room settled and the candlelight brightened. He didn’t turn to ash or crumble beneath her power. Perhaps because she didn’t want him dead anymore, or she was simply too good to hurt anyone.
He looked into those honey eyes carrying so many worries. “You’re afraid of what the Courts will think?”
“I fear more what the Dominions will do,” she murmured. “They might try to…”
“Challenge me?” He smirked. “Even human, they are no match.”
He jested for her sake, because truthfully, he wasn’t fully composed.
His reign was already delicate, with half of his demons still loyal to their first king. Rune ruled by sheer fear and power alone. If the Dominions found out the God of Shadows had been disarmed by a single kiss, he wouldn’t live to reclaim it.
Yet he was secretly relieved.
That part of him that once terrified her to death was gone—or dormant.
