I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly cold despite the warm lighting. “What if I take too much? What if I twist the bond without meaning to? I’ve spent my whole life terrified of becoming the kind of succubus who manipulates people. Feeding still feels like using him.”
Tears stung my eyes. The fear felt suffocating now, thick and heavy in my throat. My horror at the possibility of becoming a predator wearing the mask of a mate had taken root again.
Kastiel reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his touch achingly gentle. “You won’t break me. I’ve survived far worse than anything your power could do. And I’m offering because I want you exactly as you are. Starving yourself isn’t protecting me. It’s only hurting you. And watching you destroy yourself is what could actually break me.”
Lirael was giving us the space, but the light brush of her aura against mine was a much-needed reminder that control was possible.
But the fear was still louder than my aching need to believe.
“I need time,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “Please. I’m not ready to risk you like that. Not yet.”
Kastiel wrapped his arms around me in a protective hold that felt like safety and temptation all at once.
I leaned into him, trembling, the weight of my fear no longer quite as suffocating with his arms around me.
Kastiel didn’t push. He simply held me tighter, his breath warm against my hair as he rasped, “Take all the time you need. I’m not going anywhere.”
For now, that promise had to be enough.
12
KASTIEL
Lirael had stepped out for a short break after their first training session, giving Isolde a few minutes to breathe. I stayed where I was, leaning against the far wall of the training suite, watching my mate process everything she’d learned.
She sat on the edge of the low bench, her elbows on her knees while she stared at her hands like she’d never seen them before. The mate bond pulled at me harder than ever, an insistent thrum that made my demon restless. She was trying so hard to be brave, and it only made me want to wrap her in shadows and shield her from the entire world.
“You’re doing better than you think. When Lirael assessed your powers yesterday, you couldn’t let a thread out without it sparking everywhere. After only a few hours of training, you held it steady for almost a minute. That’s a lot of progress in a short amount of time.”
Isolde looked up, her emerald eyes still shadowed with doubt. “My aura still feels like it wants out more than I want to let it.”
The air split with a violent crack that was becoming too familiar. This rift was worse than the others, tearing open nearthe center of the room—a jagged, pulsing wound in reality that bled thick black smoke.
The temperature plummeted to an icy cold. My shadows surged to the surface instinctively, coiling around my arms as I pushed off the wall and moved between Isolde and the rift.
A low, guttural snarl echoed from the tear. Then something massive and wrong slithered through.
This was an entity created in the depths of hell—taller than me, with elongated limbs ending in razor claws that dripped oily darkness. Its eyes were empty sockets that seemed to swallow light. And when it opened its jagged maw, I felt the pull of the void trying to drag everything toward it.
The rift pulsed wider behind it, and I worried what else might escape if it didn’t get sealed shut quickly enough to prevent any additional incursions.
“Isolde, stay behind me,” I growled, shadows lashing out in thick tendrils to form a barrier between us and the creature.
But the entity was fast. It lunged forward with unnatural speed, claws slashing through the air. One swipe caught my side before I could fully dodge, the void energy burning like acid through my shirt and into my flesh.
Pain flared hot and deep, but I didn’t have time to register it. My demon roared to the surface, flames flickering in my eyes as I unleashed a wave of shadows to slam the creature back toward the rift.
Isolde’s breath hitched behind me. I could feel her aura spiking with fear and determination, the crackling lightning she was still terrified to use now dancing along her fingertips.
The entity shrieked, the sound scraping against my senses. Then it twisted toward her, void eyes locking onto the bright sparks of her power like a predator scenting fresh blood.
She would never be his prey while I still had breath left in my body.
I surged forward, shadows exploding outward in razor-edged coils that slammed into the entity’s chest and drove it back a step. The creature shrieked again, the sound scraping like broken glass across my nerves as it lashed out with dripping claws. I twisted aside, but one slash still grazed my shoulder, burning like liquid ice.
Behind me, I felt Isolde’s aura spike.
“Stay back!” I barked, flinging another wave of shadows to form a protective wall between the beast and us.
