The dome of power collapses, sending concrete crashing down around us in a violent chorus, striking the floor inches from where Crave’s body shields mine. Dust plumes upward in thick, hazy clouds while splinters and shards rain across the ruined room.
And as we stand tangled in the wreckage, chests rising and falling in uneven, desperate breaths, I look at the destruction, at what we’ve unleashed, and a sound escapes me that’s somewhere between a laugh and a sob, equal parts shock, wonder, and raw, overwhelming realization.
We did this.
Together.
And nothing will ever be the same.
“Did we just…”
“Destroy my room?” Crave finishes, his voice rough, sated. “Completely.”
He’s still inside me, still holding me against what’s left of the wall. My blood stains his lips. My heartbeat makes his echo, synchronizing perfectly, two rhythms becoming one.
“What happens now?” I whisper, echoing my earlier question.
He pulls back just enough to meet my eyes, and what I see there makes my newly awakened heart clench.
Possession.
Devotion.
Fear.
Hope.
“Now…” he says, brushing his bloodied lips against mine, “… you learn to control what you’ve become. Learn to wield your power without losing yourself to it.” His thumb traces my cheekbone gently. “And I teach you how to survive in this world that wants to destroy anything it doesn’t understand.”
“The Coven of Crows,” I whisper.
“Are coming.” He sets me down gently but keeps me close. “But we’ll face them together. As Blood Witch and Original, as partners bound by blood and magic.”
I look around at the destruction we’ve wrought. The shattered windows, the collapsed ceiling, the walls peppered with holes from magical explosions. Evidence of power neither of us can fully control when we come together like this.
And I realize something.
I’m not afraid anymore.
Shaken, yes.
Confused, absolutely.
Changed irrevocably, without question.
But, notafraid.
Because I’m not alone in this darkness.
I have Crave.
And pulsing with every shared heartbeat, I feel his absolute certainty.
We will survive this.
Together.
Or we’ll burn the whole world trying.
