I stared up at him—this man I loved, this monster I'd let claim me—and felt the truth of it settle into my bones.
There was no leaving.
There never had been.
The moment I'd chosen him, I'd chosenallof him—the gentle hands, the warmth, and the death.
I shivered. "I don't want to leave."
Those words surprised me. But they were true.
His expression shifted—something like relief, quickly buried.
"But I can't—" My voice broke. I swallowed hard, forced myself to continue. "I can't ever wake up to this again. I can't open a curtain and see—"
Bodies.
Burning.
Liquefying.
Dancing in the flames.
"I need you to hear me." I put my hands on his chest, and felt his heart beating steady and strong beneath my palms. "I don't ever want you to make this kind of decision without me again."
His brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"I mean you need to tell me." The words came faster now, tumbling over each other. Honestly, I didn’t even know if I were making sense or if it was something I could ask. However, I was too out of it to care.
I sighed. "Before you decide to kill over a hundred people and burn them in front of everyone who's loyal to you, you need to talk to me. We need to have a conversation. You can't just. . .you can't just do this without—"
"Tora." His voice cut through my spiral. “Are you saying I need to ask you for permission before I kill?”
“When it is this many people and I have something to do with it. Yes. We need to have a fucking discussion.”
“You mean I tell you I’m going to do it?”
“No. I mean we decide together if that is a good idea—”
"You don't wantthatkind of power."
"What?"
"If I do that—if I bring you into those decisions—do you understand what that means?" His eyes searched mine. "I have never answered to anyone. Not even my father. For me to answer to you. . ."
He shook his head slowly. "That puts you on a level no one has ever occupied. A level that should terrify you."
"I don't care."
"You should." His hand slid from my jaw to my throat, and those fingers settled over the bite marks he'd left there. "I've already claimed you. Bitten you. Already made you mine in ways you don't fully understand yet."
His thumb pressed against the bruised skin, and I gasped. "If I give you this power—the power to question my decisions, to shape them, to stop them—how much more do you think I'll need to consume?”
“Kenji—”
“How much deeper do you think I'll need to go?" His fingers trailed from my throat down to my collarbone, leaving a line of fire in their wake. Every nerve ending sparked where he touched, and I hated my body for it.
Hated how it leaned into him even now.
