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He holds on.
“Isolde,” he whispers.
The way he says my name now feels nothing like fear.
I lean closer.
His breathing matches mine without either of us deciding to do it.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
The rhythm settles deeper with every breath until the bond hums between us like living fire wrapped in silk.
Corin’s eyes search mine one final time, looking for hesitation, fear, or permission.
I close the remaining distance myself.
The kiss lands hard with restraint that has been starving too long.
Heat surges through the bond instantly, but the infernal current no longer lashes outward in blind search of something to consume. Instead, it collides with the answering pulse beneath my skin and folds inward around us both, redirected through the bond in steady, rhythmic waves. Corin’s hand slides from my wrist to my waist with visible caution, fingers trembling slightly despite the strength in them.
He makes a rough sound against my mouth like disbelief breaking apart.
I move closer and the bond flares brilliantly between us, flooding the chamber with warmth so intense the ward-lamp overhead flickers gold. The energy moving through him stops feeling jagged and directionless. Every breath we share pulls the violent edges tighter into alignment, until the infernal heat settles into a controlled current that circles through us instead of clawing for escape.
Corin presses his forehead against mine.
“You feel that?” he whispers.
“Yes.”
The word barely survives my breathing.
The chamber around us fades beneath the intensity of the bond. Water still drips somewhere deeper in the tunnels. The old shelves still creak softly with settling damp. Yet all of it feels distant compared to the living current running between his body and mine, responding to touch with impossible precision.
Corin laughs once softly, completely stunned.
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me.”
Despite everything, I smile against his mouth.
“What?”
“You’re stabilizing me by kissing me.”
“It does sound medically irresponsible.”
“That is not helping.”
His hand tightens carefully at my waist, and the warmth moving through the bond deepens into something almost frightening in its intensity. The infernal energy keeps circulating cleanly between us, no longer tearing through him in violent surges. Instead, the bond absorbs the excess force and returns it tempered, until even his breathing steadies beneath my hand.
For several long moments neither of us speaks at all. We simply remain there breathing together while the infernal current settles into a stable rhythm neither of us fully understands.
