His grip tightened.
She went very still. Her pulse jumped beneath his fingers.
"I remember," she whispered. "The pulling. Different directions. Coming apart."
She'd felt it. Known what was happening to her. The knowledge sat in his chest like broken glass.
"I couldn't let that happen. So I anchored you. Poured my death magic into you. Enough to tether your soul. To hold you together."
Her gaze searched his face.
"You gave me part of yourself to save me."
"Yes."
"And now we're..." She trailed off. He felt her reaching through the bond, testing it.
"Bound." His jaw clenched. "Our souls are connected. I can feel you now. Constantly. Your presence. Your emotions once you're strong enough to project them clearly." He forced himself to keep going. "You're carrying my shadows. My mark. I'm woven through everything you are."
He watched her, bracing for the fear. The anger. The regret.
Instead she smiled.
"Good," she whispered.
He blinked. "Good?"
"I felt you," she said, meeting his gaze. "When I was dying. When the courts were pulling. I felt you reaching for me. And I reached back." She said it like it was simple. "So yes. Good."
Something in his chest loosened. Let go.
"I changed you," he said quietly. "Made you into something you weren't. You didn't have a choice."
"I chose." Her free hand came up, covered both of his. "When I was dying, I chose. I could have let go. Let the courts take me. But I didn't. I fought to come back. To you. So don't you dare feel guilty for saving me."
His throat closed. She'd chosen him. Even while dying, she'd chosen him.
She shifted, wincing slightly, then looked down at her hands. Her brow furrowed in concentration. He felt what she was doing—reaching for his gift, testing it.
Shadows stirred beneath her skin.
Dante stopped breathing.
Tendrils emerged from her fingertips, white-edged in silver. Not his black shadows. Something new. Something uniquely hers, born from his darkness and her own essence.
They moved with her will, responding to her thoughts. Dancing between her fingers, curious, testing, exploring their range before curling back beneath her skin like they'd always belonged there.
His chest ached. His eyes burned with something that might have been tears if he'd had the strength left for them. She was beautiful. Beautiful with his power transformed through her, made into something neither of them had been alone. Something better.
She looked up at him, eyes bright with wonder.
"They're part of me now," she whispered. "I can feel them. Like another limb. Like they've always been there."
"Yes. You're connected to me now. In ways that go beyond any bond I've known."
"Show me."
He blinked. "What?"
