Chapter Fourteen
Marius
I grasp onto Brigid ’ s hand, my skin sparking with little shocks wherever we touch. Our fingers entwine easily, as if we were always meant to join forces.
A soft hissing noise fills the air as our magic meshes, almost like whispers in an indecipherable language. An occasional crackle can be heard, almost like static on a radio. The power surges through us, dark and seductive. Shadows swirl around our bodies, pulsing with barely contained energy.
The shadows draw together, thickening, stretching and twisting into impossible shapes. They dance around us, alive with an elemental energy that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Brigid ’ s grip on my hand tightens, her breath rapid as the magic builds.
I feel it too—the rush of power flooding through my veins. It ’ s addictive, this crude potential between us. The air is heavier now, like it ’ s condensing.
Sweat beads on my brow.
Brigid ’ s eyes are closed, her face a mask of concentration. I watch, mesmerized. Fuck, she ’ s gorgeous like this—wild and dangerous. My blood runs hot as our magic mingles and merges.
“ That ’ s it,” I murmur. “ Let it flow through you.”
She shivers at my words, pressing closer. The shadows curl around us hungrily.
My mind is hazy with lust and dark power. I want to push her further, to see how far she ’ ll go. To claim her as mine in the depths of the shadows.
But I can ’ t lose control. Not now.
The surrounding air is alive with a low vibration that I feel in my bones, and I see the rift beginning to form, just a pinpoint of black—a tiny hole—a tear in the fabric of reality. It ’ s so small and fragile that it could disappear at any second.
“ Brigid.” I focus on the point of blackness, willing it to stay. “ Don ’ t hold back. Embrace it.”
She trembles against me, her power surging wildly. I can feel her hesitation, her fear of losing herself completely.
“ I can ’ t,” she gasps. “ It ’ s too much.”
“ You can,” I insist, tightening my grip on her hand. “ I ’ ve got you. Let go.”
The rift pulses, expanding and contracting like a living thing. We don ’ t have much time. If we don ’ t stabilize it soon, we ’ ll lose our chance.
I press my body against hers, letting her feel my arousal, my need. “ You ’ re fucking magnificent like this,” I growl in her ear. “ Don ’ t fight it. Be who you were meant to be.”
Brigid moans, her resolve crumbling. The shadows writhe around us, hungry and demanding. I feel her surrender, her power unfurling like dark wings.
The rift tears wider, revealing glimpses of a world beyond - twisted and alien. We ’ re so close now. Just a little more...
“ That ’ s it,” I encourage, my heart racing. “ Show me your darkness, Brigid. Show me everything.”
The rift suddenly expands, a gaping maw of inky blackness. Brigid gasps, her body going rigid against mine.
Brigid ’ s pupils dilate as she stares into the swirling void. “ Holy shit,” she breathes. “ I didn ’ t think—I mean, I wasn ’ t sure if...”
“ If it would work?” I finish for her, unable to keep the smugness from my voice. “ You doubted us?”
She shakes her head, still transfixed by the rift. “ It ’ s not that. I just... I tried this with Tiernan before. Nothing happened.”
A snort escapes me before I can stop it. “ Of course it didn ’ t work with him.”
Brigid turns to me, confusion etched across her face. “ What do you mean?”
I cup her cheek, feeling the warmth of her skin against my palm. “ Tiernan ’ s magic is... pedestrian. Safe. This—” I gesture to the pulsing rift, “—requires something darker. Something only we possess.”
Her brow furrows. “ But neither of us has divine magic. How—”
“ Divine?” I scoff. “ Darling, what we have is far more potent than any so-called divine power.”
I can see the questions forming in her mind, but now isn ’ t the time for explanations. I pull her back to my front, my cock pressing against her back. “ This,” I say, gesturing in front of us to the twisting, moving mouth of the rift, “ is what happens when you embrace who you really are. No more hiding. No more holding back.”
I can feel the hunger in her, the desire for more. It makes my blood sing.
“ What now?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.
I grin, knowing we ’ ve crossed a line there ’ s no coming back from. “ Now we see just how deep this rabbit hole goes.”
The rift pulses, tendrils of shadow reaching out like grasping fingers. I feel Brigid tense against me, her breath catching.
“ It ’ s calling to me,” she murmurs, a mix of fear and longing in her voice.
I tighten my hold on her waist. “ Then answer it.”
Her hand trembles as she reaches out, fingertips brushing the edge of the rift. A shudder runs through her body, and I feel an answering thrill in my chest.
“ Fuck,” I hiss, my cock hardening further. The power flowing between us is enough to get drunk on, and I want nothing more than to lose myself in it—in her.
Brigid turns her head, her lips inches from mine. “ Marius, I—”
Whatever she was about to say is cut off as the rift abruptly widens, nearly engulfing us. I pull her back sharply, my instincts screaming danger.
“ Careful,” I warn. One of us has to go through, but it won ’ t be Brigid. “ You need to stay here and keep the rift open.”
Brigid ’ s eyes widen. “ But—”
“ No arguments,” I cut her off. “ Keep the rift open. I ’ ll be back with the mutt before you know it. If he ’ s still alive.”
Without giving her a chance to argue further, I turn and step into the rift. The shift is immediate and disorienting. Reality warps around me, colors bleeding away until everything is cast in shades of gray and black. The air feels like it ’ s pressing in on me from all sides.
Grotesque shapes slither at the edges of my vision, always just out of focus. I make myself to move forward, though it feels like the last thing I should do. This place wants to keep me here, wants to draw my shadows out and hang me by them.
Still, a part of me revels in the darkness, in the sheer force and power that surges through every molecule of this twisted dimension. It calls to the shadows in my blood, urging me to let it in.
I shove those thoughts aside. Focus.
The landscape in front of me is a nightmare come to life. Leafless trees with shriveled branches, their bark oozing a glutinous black liquid. The ground beneath my feet shifts and curves. In the distance, I hear wails that could be the wind, or something far worse.
I press on, my senses on high alert. Every step feels like walking through deep water, the very air resistant to my presence. But I ’ m no stranger to places that don ’ t want me. I ’ ve spent my whole life in them.
“ Rory!” I call out, my voice sounding muffled and distant even to my own ears. “ Where the fuck are you, you overgrown puppy?”
No response. Just more of those eerie wails. And the fucking alarming feeling of being watched by something I can ’ t see.
Frustration seethes inside me. Why am I even here, risking my ass for some mutt I barely tolerate? The answer comes too fast: Brigid. Her face, her scent, the way her power collides with mine.
“ Dammit,” I mutter, scanning the desolate landscape.
A twitch of movement catches my eye. I spin, shadows coiling around my fists, ready to strike. But whatever was there is now nothing more than a half-formed thought, melting back into the gloom.
Time feels different here. Has it been minutes? An hour? I can ’ t tell. Brigid won ’ t be able to keep the rift open by herself for long. I need to find Rory and get the hell out of here before we ’ re both—
A howl cuts through the air, distant but unmistakable. Rory.
I take off running, my feet barely touching the writhing ground. The howl comes again, closer this time. I round a twisted outcropping of rock and there he is, backed against a cliff face, fending off shadowy figures with snapping jaws and razor claws.
“ About fucking time.” I leap into the fray.
My shadows lash out, slicing through the apparitions like smoke. They dissipate with unearthly screams, but more materialize to take their place. Rory ’ s eyes lock onto me, wide with disbelief.
“ Marius?” he gasps, his voice hoarse. “ No... you can ’ t be real.”
I roll my eyes, ducking under a phantasmic claw. “ Does this look like a fucking illusion to you, dog?”
Rory backs away, shaking his head. “ You ’ re not really here.”
Rage bubbles up inside me. We don ’ t have time for this shit. “ Listen, you idiot. Brigid ’ s holding a rift open, and if we don ’ t move our asses now, we ’ re both fucked.”
At the mention of Brigid ’ s name, something that could be hope, or more likely lust, glimmers in Rory ’ s eyes. I can ’ t tell, and I don ’ t care. “ Move. Now.”
Rory ’ s eyes narrow, searching my face. Then, finally, he nods.
We take off running, the void ’ s creatures hot on our heels. I reach out with my magic, feeling for that connection to Brigid. It ’ s there, a thin thread of shadow leading us back. But it ’ s wavering, growing fainter by the second.
My heart jackhammers in my throat and I feel a burst of adrenaline and desperation. Brigid ’ s power is fading fast. If we don ’ t make it in time...
“ Faster!” Rory ’ s lagging behind. His werewolf stamina should be kicking in, but the void has clearly taken its toll.
“ Fuck off,” Rory wheezes. “ Some of us have been surviving hell on a daily basis.”
We crest a hill of shifting shadows, and there it is—the rift. A jagged tear in reality, edges flickering like a dying flame. Through it, I catch a glimpse of Brigid, her face contorted with the strain.
“ Move your ass!” I shout, shoving Rory ahead of me.
The rift contracts, and panic claws at my throat. Not like this. Not when we ’ re so close. I channel every ounce of shadow magic I have left, reaching out to Brigid ’ s fading power.
Our magics converge, dark and sinuous. For a suspended moment, I ’ m lost in the sensation, the unbridled intensity of it that feels more natural than sex. Then reality snaps back as Rory stumbles through the rift.
I dive after him, feeling claws rake across my back. Pain sears through me as I tumble onto solid ground, the rift slamming shut behind us with a thunderous crack.
I barely have time to catch my breath before Brigid ’ s there, throwing herself at Rory. Her usual mask of guarded indifference shatters as she wraps her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.
“ You ’ re alive,” she chokes out, her voice muffled. “ I thought... I was afraid...”
Rory ’ s arms engulf her, his large frame dwarfing hers. “ Takes more than a fucked-up shadow realm to keep me down, love,” he says, but his voice catches.
Something twists in my gut as I watch them. The vulnerability—it ’ s unsettling.
“ Don ’ t you ever do that again,” Brigid says, pulling back to look at Rory ’ s face. Her eyes are bright with unshed tears. “ I swear, I ’ ll kill you myself if you—”
Rory cuts her off with a laugh, but it ’ s tinged with pain. “ Missed you too, love.”
I push myself to my feet, wincing at the sting across my back. Neither of them seems to notice. They ’ re lost in their own world, one where I clearly don ’ t belong.
Silently, I slip back into the shadows. It ’ s where I ’ m most comfortable, anyway.
Brigid ’ s hand shakes as she touches Rory ’ s face, as if making sure he ’ s real. The tenderness in her expression is like a knife to my chest. But at the same time, seeing her look that way at Rory, makes me feel…good? Now that ’ s fucking weird.
I lean against the wall, watching them from the darkness. The protective instinct that drove me to save Rory wars with a possessive urge I can ’ t shake.I sure the fuck didn ’ t do it for him. I did it for her.
Brigid is mine.And I take care of what is mine.
But seeing her relief, her joy—it satisfies something deep inside me.
“ How did you even find me?” I hear Rory ask, his voice rough.
Brigid glances around, her brow furrowing. “ Marius... he—” She stops, probably looking around for me.
But by the time she does, I ’ m already gone.