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The silence within Yue holds itself together for exactly two seconds, then Yue reaches out and takes the heart from my palm. She doesn't cradle it, nor does she press it to her chest. She holds it between two fingers, turns it over, and squints at it, pretending to scan it like she does with fake IDs at the door. She brings it close to her face.

"Is this connected to your nervous system too?" she asks.

"...Yes," I reply.

She pokes it. The jolt hits me like a cattle prod to the base of my spine. My whole body jerks, wings snapping outward and shoulders hunching. A sharp grunt rips out of my mouth, echoing through the club. A glass tips off a table somewhere behind me and shatters.

“Did you see that?” someone gasps.

Adwin's distinctive cackle rises in the air.

Ashari's follows it. “Oh, this will be fun."

Yue grins, but her eyes soften. “Do you want me to take this?”

I nod.

She rises on her feet and places her lips against mine. It’s a light kiss, but it twists my insides. My dick, already hard from the nature of my job, twitches.

“I’ll take it,” she says, closing her fingers around the heart. "If this thing starts vibrating every time you're horny, I'm throwing it down the drain."

The heart pulses in her palm.

I groan. "It does not do that."

It pulses again. Yue looks at it and then at me, slowly raising an eyebrow. Yue shakes her head, and she stands on her tiptoes again. She grabs the back of my neck and slams her mouth onto mine. My wings sweep forward before I can stop them. The stone curves around us, blocking out the light and crowd. The enchanted lights in the ceiling trigger, flaring every fixture. A flurry of purple and red sweeps through the club in waves. A few screams and cheers rise in the air.

I break the kiss with Yue. “Thank you for accepting me.”

She rolls her eyes. “How could I not after all this?” She waves her hand, motioning toward the crowd, then she sighs. “It’s a shame no one will remember but us.”

“It’s a shame for them.”

“I hate having to restake my territory.”

I crush her to me. “Want me to tattoo your name on my chest?”

She narrows her eyes. “You would, wouldn’t you?”

“I know a guy. He’s a little far from Louisiana, but I can make it work.”

She giggles, holding the heart against her sternum. The heart pulses against her chest, matching the echo of her heart. It won’t ever change. Yue’s skin flutters, and her skin slowly unweaves itself.

“What kind of magic is that?” I ask, mesmerized as she eases my heart under her flesh.

Her skin closes so quickly I’m sure I dreamed what just happened.

“Nacht is some powerful shit,” she replies, letting out a low breath.

“Did that hurt?”

“I just ripped open my damn chest. Of course it did.”

I grab her hand and kiss it before bending as close as I can to her chest. I can’t fucking reach it in this form. So I throw an arm under her, lifting her toward me. Raising her above my head, I kiss the skin. Not a piece seems to be out of order.

“Amazing,” I praise.

“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.” Her eyes whirl when she looks at me.