I breathed in, feeling the way the air curled inside me. This time, I didn’t try to shove my magic inside me, but invited it in. The threads swam inside me, still restless but following my guidance. I felt them linger at the edge of my breath, curious as they began to curl and wrap inside me.
My breaths came easier, like my magic and breaths were working together.
Inhale. The ribbons of my magic followed. Still tentative, but doing as I asked.
Exhale. They loosened, sliding deeper into me instead of tearing free.
A trembling laugh broke from inside my chest. “I think . . . I think it’s working.”
“You’re doing well,” Eiran said. “Keep working at it until it becomes muscle memory.”
I repeated the motion. Once, twice, a few dozen times. Each stumble made my magic flare, but Alastor’s reminder to guide and not force kept me from breaking. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but eventually, my magic pulsed in time with my lungs, grounded and obedient.
“Good.” For the first time, Eiran’s voice shifted, carrying something that sounded a lot like pride. “Do you still wish to learn to bind your magic to your bond?”
I looked at Brenton. His smoke magic shimmered faintly against his palm. He nodded, jaw tight but eyes soft. When he lifted a hand toward me, I clasped it. The bond flared instantly at the touch, the ever-present pull between us roaring in my chest.
“We do it together,” he said.
“It’ll be more challenging,” Eiran said. “The bond does not hold a quiet rhythm. It is fierce and wild, and if you force it, you could drown each other.”
Fear slammed through me—not for myself, but for what my magic could do to him. I tried to pull away, but Brenton’s grip remained firm.
“Don’t run from me, Lolli,” he said, words coming out rough. “We can do this.Youcan do this.”
His smoke magic skimmed through the bond like a gentle breeze, and it instantly eased the frantic pulse of my threads. I inhaled, and rather than fighting the pulses, I let them move. Just as I’d done when the threads of our magic played in the air. His smoke curled with them, twining his gray threads with my red until they fell and rose together inside me. Inside him.
The sensation was almost too much, and I gasped. His magic wasn’t simply brushing mine but inside me, steadying every stumble and guiding each attempted surge.
“I can feel you,” I whispered.
When my magic tore too fast through the bond, his smoke wrapped around them, coiling through the edges and ushering them back into me without splintering the rhythm. He wasn’t forcing control; he was lending me his.
How could he do this so easily? As if his magic had always been twined with mine, as if his soul had always known mine. As if binding his magic was second nature. Where I faltered, he flowed. When I splintered, he smoothed.
Inhale. Smoke and death banded together.
Exhale. The bond thrummed stronger, steadier.
My body shook with the effort, and my gaze locked on Brenton, breathless at the sight. Silver specks shimmered around the hazel, my magic now living in him.
“Your eyes carry the silver of mine,” I said, my words coming out wobbly as I took in the silver that now replaced the gold specks. “We did it.”
His grin was feral and triumphant. “No, Lolli, you did it. Look at you. My smoke lives in your veins now. Our bond is no longer just a tether but a claim. Yours and mine. Inseparable. This is how we win.”
Something like a laugh or sob tore through me, and I threw myself forward against his chest and into his lap. His strong arms wound around me while our bond thrummed wild and alive. The pulse of my threads of magic came steadier with his smoke, each of our breaths carrying us both.
“Your bond is now the strongest power you will ever wield,” Eiran said. “Guard it well. Now that your magic knows its joint strength, it will never release it.” He turned his all-too-familiar eyes to Alastor. “May I speak with you in private?”
Alastor dipped his head in a nod.
I shivered, pressing closer to Brenton. The storm that usually waged inside me was quiet. Not gone but calm. Bound.
And it was bound to him.
Relief washed through me, sweet but fleeting. Because even as my chest swelled with this triumph, the world beyond this realm was still breaking. And sooner or later, it would try to break us too.
But for now, I let myself breathe with Brenton. One heartbeat. One tether. One fragile moment of peace before reality stormed back in.
