55. Half of Eternity With the Hot Guy
55
Half of Eternity With the Hot Guy
You
Magic. You just need to do magic. Something, anything, that will help you escape. But even breathing takes too much energy.
You’re going to die here in this void.
Unless…
Unless you can use Ziros as an anchor to pull yourself back out! That’s it!
You close your eyes in the darkness, willing all your power into his name as you chant it over and over in your head, picturing his glinting, angry eyes as you envision yourself appearing in front of him.
At first, nothing happens.
So you try harder, impossibly harder, willing yourself there, trying to imagine the thread that once connected you, reeling yourself in with it.
And then—
There’s a strange popping sensation like the sound and feel of a rubber band snapping, then a heavy weight lands on top of you with a grunt.
A heavy, very warm, very muscular weight.
“ Human! ” Ziros growls, squeezing you so tightly, you can’t breathe. “You’re alive!”
“I…did it,” you mutter through the haze and considerable lack of air. “I escaped!”
“No, my wild, crazy human,” he says, a somber edge coloring his voice as he pushes himself off of you. “No…”
“No, what? ” you whisper, barely able to lift your head.
Everything on this rooftop is so dark. And you can’t feel the breeze at all. So dark, so heavy. So very heavy…
“No, don’t you dare give into the void,” Ziros demands, cradling you in his arms, lifting you from the ground. “And no, you didn’t escape. You brought me to you.”
Your heart sinks.
No! No, that can’t be right. But when you blink your heavy eyes open, there’s no stars above you. No buildings. No fireball-wielding menace of a twin watching with a smirk.
Just Ziros and his handsome face.
“ Ziros ,” you whisper. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. Didn’t mean…you…here…”
“Shhh,” he says, cutting you off with a kiss, pressing his mouth urgently to yours. “No time for that. Don’t you dare be sorry. Just live .”
Is it just your imagination, or does his kiss give you a tiny surge of energy?
He kisses you harder, pinning your lips to his as he sets you back on the ground, straddling you, the heat of his body like an oven over you as your breath comes in ragged pants, his feverish kisses consuming you.
Finally, he pulls back, and his blue eyes shine even in the dark as he stares straight into yours.
“Listen, human. I have an idea. But I need your help.”
“An idea?” His kisses must really be magic, because your head isn’t quite so heavy, and you find you can almost sit up on your own.
“Yeah. I need you to do something for me, got it?”
You nod, still delirious.
“Good. Then I need you to bind our lifelines together.”
You blink heavily. “I need to… what? ”
You must have misheard him.
There’s no way he just said ‘bind your lifelines’, however you’re even supposed to do something as wild and permanent-sounding as that.
“There’s no time. Just do it. Our lifelines ,” he repeats. “Use your magic.”
You stare at him.
You must have lost it. You’re definitely hearing things.
There’s no way the grumpy demigod-vampire you know would request such a thing. He’d never want to be tied down to a human like you.
No way.
Unless…maybe this is a temporary thing. Like how you were bound together before.
“ Okay ,” you whisper, barely able to make a sound.
He must sense you’re fading fast, because he kisses you again, pulling back to say, “If this doesn’t work, I just want you to know one thing, my wild human. Okay?”
“W-what is it?” Maybe it’s because you’re exhausted, or maybe it’s the piercing way he’s looking at you, but you find your heart skips a beat, stomach fluttering.
Of all the times to get butterflies.
“I want you to know…” he says, straddling you again on the dark ground that both exists and doesn’t, the floor that isn’t anything at all. He tilts your jaw up, cradling the back of your head with one hand as he leans down, trailing his teeth over your neck until you gasp softly. Then, pulling away again, he stares straight into your eyes as he says, “I promised myself I’d never have feelings for a human. It’s too messy. Your lifetimes are too short.”
Your heart speeds up. “What’s that have to do with this?”
He smirks.
“If we survive, I’ll tell you. Now do it, human.” He kisses your left palm, then your right. “Bind our lifelines together.”
You don’t know what you’re doing.
Operating on instinct, you close your eyes, tracing the magic of his kisses back to his heart, down to his soul as you remember the thread that connected you.
It feels so strange to be putting it back when you only just learned to set him free, but you don’t have a choice. Not if you want to survive.
If you’re lucky, his energy will be strong enough to save you in this infernal void.
You focus your magic, pulling your lifelines together and tying the threads of glowing energy, melding them with the last of your strength.
Please work , you will it, but you’re too late.
You’re exhausted.
“Stay with me, human,” you hear a distant voice say.
Then the darkness takes over.
…for about half a second.
Next thing you know, bright-hot strength pours into you with all the energy of a thousand suns, the dark and heavy weight evaporating from your lungs. Finally, you can breathe fully again.
And not a second too late.
“ Ziros ,” you whisper, gazing into his eyes.
“You did it!” he says triumphantly, kissing your forehead as the darkness fades away into a wall of bright orange light.
Moments later, you find yourself standing on the rooftop, wrapped in Ziros’ arms as the enchanted book disintegrates to ashes in Sy’s hand, a few loose pages falling out and scattering to the wind.
For a split-second after, everything is calm.
There’s only the light breeze wrapping around you and Ziros.
Then Ziros lets go, stepping between you and his twin.
“You bastard ,” he snarls, eyes flashing. “You nearly killed her!”
“Collateral damage,” Sy says, shooting you an apologetic look. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“ Wasn’t supposed to!? ” Ziros takes two strides, pulling his arm back and preparing to swing. To your shock, Sy doesn’t even try to dodge.
Just lets Ziros punch him right in the face.
Sy groans, shaking it off as he straightens up. “I admit, I may have deserved that.”
“At least you’re self-aware. Now hold still while I beat the shit out of you, you stupid bastard.”
“Sorry, bro,” Sy says, dodging Ziros’ next punch. “I let you have that one, but it’s time we end this. You’re still a menace. I can’t just let you roam free.”
“Oh? And you’re not a menace?” Ziros swings again, this time with more force, and wind rushes up around the rooftop, scattering dust and the remains of the book pages where the last few flutter across the deck.
“Wait!” you protest, stepping between the battling demigods. Holding up your left hand, you reveal the glowing line connecting you to Ziros. “We’re tethered. If you hurt him, you’ll hurt me. And you don’t want to hurt innocent people, right? Isn’t that the whole reason you set out to stop Ziros in the first place?”
Sy frowns, shooting you a glare. “What do you mean, ‘you’re tethered’?”
“She means we’re soulbound,” Ziros says smugly, wrapping an arm tightly around your shoulders.
Sy gives his twin a disbelieving look. “You mean to tell me you willingly bound yourself to a mortal?”
Ziros just shrugs.
“It’s your fault, really. It was the only way to save her in that damn void. Didn’t have a choice.”
The happy little tether of light linking you glows as you lift your hand higher, and Sy pokes it with one finger, muttering under his breath. Shaking his head, he takes a step back.
“ Damn ,” he mutters, still shaking his head. “God. Damn. I never thought I’d see the day. But it’s real. It’s really real.”
“What?” You glance at Ziros. “Is it really that big of a deal?”
Ziros turns his head away slightly, coughing softly. And is it just your imagination, or is he blushing ?
Sy laughs. “Not a big deal? Bro, did you even explain to her what you made her do, or did you casually just—”
“It was an emergency!” Ziros interrupts, and there’s no doubt about it.
He’s definitely blushing.
And it’s not just the glowing orange light of Sy’s fireball as he bounces it from one hand to the other, watching you two.
“You did,” Sy says with a grin, throwing his head back and laughing. He laughs so hard, he doubles-over, wiping the tears from his eyes. “You really did. You forged an eternal bond with her and you didn’t even tell her .”
“I told her!” Ziros protests, finally looking at you. “You knew what it meant, right, human?”
Now it’s your turn to blush.
Eyes wide, you stare at him as you choke out, “E- eternal!? ”
“Ha! This is golden!” Sy slaps his knee, a fireball flashing out in a puff of smoke. “I never thought I’d see the day. You bonded yourself to a mortal, and she doesn’t even know .”
You glance between the two demigod twins, waiting for explanation.
Finally, Ziros says, “So maybe it’s an eternal bond. It’s not that big of a deal.”
Sy arches an eyebrow. “Sharing a lifetime isn’t a big deal?”
“Sharing…a lifetime?” you repeat, staring wide-eyed at Ziros. You feel suddenly lightheaded. “What does that mean?”
“It means he gave up his immortality,” Sy says bluntly.
Your heart skips a beat, breath catching.
“No! You didn’t!”
Ziros covers his face with one hand, not looking at you. Why won’t he look at you?
This is a joke, right?
There’s no way he would have done something so…so…
“It was an emergency, okay? Both of you, stop acting like it’s a big deal!”
Sy shakes his head, muttering. “I guess I don’t have to worry. I really never thought I’d see the day. You’ve changed, bro. You really changed. I didn’t believe it. But you have.”
“I haven’t!”
Sy just laughs. “Sure, keep telling yourself that.”
“Is it really—did you “…yes.”really—” You find yourself tongue-tied, barely able to form the words you need to ask. “Did you really give up your immortality to save me?” Swallowing, you ask, “Are we really…sharing a lifetime?”
Ziros clears his throat, finally looking at you. “…yes.”
You stare at him.
Just stare.
This is either incredibly romantic, or incredibly devastating, and you’re not sure which to feel.
“Thank you,” you whisper. “I don’t know what to say. But won’t you…die now?”
Ziros slides one hand around your waist, drawing you close and tilting your chin up to look him in the eyes. “Don’t worry, human,” he says, kissing you gently on the lips. “Half of eternity is still eternity.”
You raise an eyebrow at him. “Wait, is that really how it works?”
“Well, no. Technically.” He glances away sheepishly. “Actually, we’ll be constrained by however long you can live.”
“Oh. That’s significantly less long, I’m afraid.”
“I’m aware.” He kisses you softly again. “Don’t worry, my beautiful, amazing human. I’m aware. I knew what I was doing. And I’d do it all over again.”
You blush.
This is so romantic. Impossibly romantic.
Maybe you really did die, because this can’t be happening in real life. There’s no way.
Staring up into his steel blue eyes, you say, “So…I think you promised to tell me something if we survived. And I may be mistaken, but it seems to me we have survived.”
Ziros smirks. “You remembered that, huh?”
“I’d never forget.”
“Good. Then I’ll tell you. Just…” he glances back at Sy, who clears his throat as if to remind you he’s still standing there. “Not right now.”
“You’re stalling,” you protest.
Ziros laughs. “Maybe. But come on, human. I’ll take you home.”
“Wait. One more thing.” You turn to Sy, holding out one hand. “I believe you still owe me my sword back, thank you very much.”
He frowns, handing it over, still watching Ziros skeptically. “Alright. But just know that if you try anything funny and cause any more chaos, this won’t be the last you see of me.”
Ziros glares at his twin. “The same goes for you .”
With that, Sy leaps from the roof, vanishing into the night as he swings off a drainage pipe and parkours off a balcony below.
Show-off.
Finally, you and Ziros are alone.
And you’re safe at last.
Staring down at the glowing light on your arm, you can hardly believe it. You’re exhausted and your head is still reeling, but you’ve never felt more relieved.
Ziros is back. And you’re linked together.
Forever .