I shift slightly against the warmth behind me.
Threxian’s arm tightens instinctively around my waist the moment I move, drawing me closer against the solid heat of his chest as though even in sleep he refuses to let distance exist between us. The motion pulls a quiet smile from me.
“Careful,” his voice murmurs against my hair, rough with sleep. “If you keep smiling like that I might assume you enjoyed last night.”
I tilt my head back slightly to look at him.
“You’re awake.”
“I am a demon,” he replies lazily. “We are notoriously difficult to sneak away from.”
His eyes open slowly, still softened by the rare calm resting over his expression. It feels strange to lie here like this after everything that happened. The village. The fire. The chaos. The weight of it still lingers somewhere in the back of my mind, yet the warmth of his arms makes it easier to breathe.
“You’re staring again,” I murmur, because at this point it is a habit to tease him about it.
“I am admiring my mate.”
“That sounds suspiciously like staring.”
“It absolutely is.”
I shift slightly to face him more fully, resting my head against his shoulder while my fingers trace idle patterns across the sigil glowing faintly over his chest. The mark responds immediately to my touch, warming beneath my fingertips as though it recognizes me now in a way it never did before.
“I can feel it,” I say quietly.
“The bond?”
I nod.
“It’s different.”
“Yes.”
“Calmer.”
His hand moves slowly along my back in a quiet, absent rhythm.
“You claimed it,” he says. “The bond is no longer reacting blindly to your fear. It answers you now. My power is your power now. We are one.”
The thought still feels surreal. Only yesterday the same power reduced an entire village to ash. Now it rests quietly beneath my ribs like something patient and listening.
“And you’re not worried?” I ask softly.
“About what?”
“That I’ll burn down another town.”
A faint smile touches his mouth.
“If you do,” he replies mildly, “I will simply ensure we are standing somewhere very inflammable."
I stare at him.
“You’re joking.”
“Partially.”
Despite myself, I laugh softly. The sound feels unfamiliar after everything that happened, yet it comes easily in the quiet safety of the cave.
