Chapter 50
My eyes fluttered as I slipped in and out of consciousness.
“I won’t do it,” someone said, quiet.
“Blake, we don’t have another choice. You have to—”
“I won’t! Not when she can’t decide.”
“She could die!” Calla shouted, her hands pulsing with energy on my skin. As if she was trying to heal me. “Nothing else is working. Not even lifebark. Please.”
Silence, and then I was falling.
No. Not falling—being carried, closer to something warm. The fireplace.
“Rubi?”
A glowing thread appeared. I followed it, pulling it like a tether between us until I blinked open my eyes to see Blake, holding me half in his lap, his hands combing through my hair gently.
“Blake?”
He smiled, but his eyes tragic. “Hey, songbird.”
“Flame?” A choked cry burst from my lips. “I can’t f-feel her—”
“Hey, it’s okay,” he cooed, gesturing with his head toward the stables. “She’s with the others. She’s still slow, coming off the drugs. Just give her a little time and you’ll be able to hear her again.”
My hands rose to my neck. I whimpered slightly as I felt the cold metal there. Blake’s face flashed with unconcealed pain.
“I know, Rubi. I’m so sorry.” He held me tighter, bending over to press a kiss to my temple. “I can’t get it off. But—but we think there might be a way.”
I knew it before he said the words.
“You want to Soul Pair.” In my head, the words sounded right. But my voice was weak enough that Blake shuddered.
He nodded, leaning closer again, his forehead touching mine.
“I think, if we were truly bound together, if I could access your magic as well as mine, I might be able to remove it. Right now, the Pairing makes us each separately stronger, but not strong enough.” He kissed me again.
“I’m so sorry. This is not how I wanted our Soul Pairing to happen. I love you. I want to keep you safe.”
I shook my head, reaching for his hand. “If we do this,” I whispered, my voice trembling, “there’s no going back. If it doesn’t work and I die, so will you.”
Blake leaned in, his breath warm against my skin. “I know.” His lips grazed the edge of my jaw, a whisper of heat that sent a shiver through me.
“I can’t allow you to do that.”
His hands cupped my face, rough and shaking. “Please,” he said, voice breaking. “I’m begging you. I won’t do this without your consent, but please let me do this so we can save you. It’s the only way.”
My breath caught. I had never heard the Ambush Master plead before. But what he was risking— “I can’t let you take that chance. The world needs you.”
“I need you.”
My heart pounded as I looked up at him, at the raw, unguarded truth in his eyes. “Say it, Blake.”
“I love you,” he breathed, before pulling back to meet my eyes.
“I love you,” I said, and a pulse of strength pulled the thread of our Pairing closer.
His expression burned with something fierce, something unstoppable.
“When you and Flame went missing—” His voice broke.
“Kingsolver and I went feral. I don’t care about any of it.
Not the rules, not the magic, not the demons.
Nothing but you. I want to be Soul Paired to you, permanently.
To save you, yes, but for more than that. ”
“But you might die.” My voice cracked.
“Rubi, listen to me,” he said. He looked at me, strong and sure. “I am much too stubborn of a scorchhole to die. We are both going to live. Together. Do you trust me?”
I gave a half laugh, then nodded.
I heard his breath catch. His forehead pressed to mine, and when he spoke again, it was barely more than a whisper. “Thank you.”
My hands moved of their own accord, sliding up his chest, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath my fingers. His body was solid, real, grounding me in the moment even as my mind raced with the enormity of what we were about to do.
He pulled me against him with desperation. I was weak still, but he was letting me draw on his strength.
I was aware of the audience behind us—Calla, Jace, Malissa, Auron, and Quinn—but I couldn’t bring myself to care. They would witness this moment.
His mouth brushed mine, tender, filled with leashed hunger, and I felt the spark of our magic merge with the heat of his kiss. Energy rippled between us, a heady, dangerous thing, threading through every touch.
Blake’s fingers whispered down my arm. And then, he whispered, “I am yours. Soul to soul. Breath to breath.” His voice was steady, but his eyes burned with raw emotion.
I felt the words sink into me, binding tighter than any spell. My throat ached as I whispered them back. “I am yours. Soul to soul. Breath to breath.”
Our palms met, our Marks flaring with light as our magic began to wind together. When his lips found mine, I felt the vow begin to solidify between us, and for a moment, there was no fear, no world beyond him: only the two of us, one soul, one breath.
I gasped, my back arching, my magic reacting as if it had a life of its own. The air between us charged. My magic flowed toward him, threading through the air like dark silk.
Blake groaned against me, his lips falling away, forehead pressing to mine. I pulled at him, instinct driving me closer, but the magic was becoming unstable.
The balance between us was tipping.
“Blake.” My voice came out in a shaky gasp, but he didn’t stop. He gritted his teeth and pressed his magic closer, twining us together with something stronger than the thread.
Metal, twisting sharp.
I could feel him losing control, the grip of his power tightening around me like a vise. Our magic was becoming a storm, swirling too fast, too wild, as if it was pushing us to a point we couldn’t come back from.
But—
“Blake,” I whispered. In my mind or out loud, I didn’t know. Something was wrong. I could feel it.
“Let me in,” Blake’s voice whispered. “Come to me.”
I tried—again—but there was something off. Enough to have my magic pulling back, even as I forced it forward.
And I felt him, there, inside me—but only for a moment before, like a roaring inferno, everything crashed.
The heat between us grew unbearable, my power surging out of control. I could feel it burning hotter, wilder, overwhelming Blake’s magic. His metal magic was fighting it, pushing back against the flames, trying to shield itself. But it wasn’t working.
Instead, it felt like we were tearing each other apart.
As if from a great distance, I could hear our friends gasp and scream.
I cried out as my body spasmed, my skin alight with flames that weren’t mine to control.
Blake’s arms tightened around me, his magic flaring violently in response, but the more we tried to hold on to each other, the worse it became.
His metal magic was shredding through me, and my power was burning him.
“Rubi!” Blake’s voice was ragged, desperate. I could feel him trying to pull his magic back, trying to stop the backlash, but it was too late. We were caught in a storm of our own making.
Pain shot through my chest, and I screamed as the power inside me exploded, searing through my veins like molten lava.
Blake’s body jerked against mine, his own magic recoiling as it tried to shield him from the heat, but it only made the flames worse.
The more we fought it, the more it tore us apart.
“Stop!” I cried, my voice barely audible over the roar of the magic. “Blake, you have to stop!”
But I could feel him. I could feel his mind, his thoughts, his fear.
He was trying to shield me, trying to take the pain into himself, and it was killing him.
His arms tightened around me, and I saw the way his skin reddened where my power touched him, heard the ragged, agonized sound of his breath.
“No,” I gasped, my vision blurring. “Blake, please, listen to me—”
With a final surge of strength, Blake pulled me closer, his lips brushing my ear as he whispered, “Take it from me.”
I didn’t understand what he meant—until I felt it. He was giving me everything, pulling the backlash into himself, sacrificing himself to protect me.
But I wouldn’t let him.
I screamed, the power roaring inside me, threatening to tear me apart. I reached deep into myself, calling on my power.
The world around me faded as our magic consumed everything.
Metal around us crashed and splintered, some of it shattering into a million pieces.
The fireplace roared out, flames nearly licking our skin as it caught the fabrics draped over the ledge and chairs.
I could hear our allies behind us shouting, could feel their magic trying to stop whatever it was that Blake and I had created.
And then the magical storm, so violent it was roaring, slammed into us from all sides and threw my body back.
A near sonic boom. Then quiet. Silence so loud it almost rivaled the noise.
As I rose up to sit, I looked down at my hands, where the Mark should have been glowing red. Soul Paired. But it wasn’t.
It was black.
But I could feel air on my neck where the collar had been.
Something had gone horrifically wrong with our Soul Pairing, but our magical hurricane had broken the Serpent Lord’s collar. This pain was not for nothing.
My eyes searched across the room for Blake, who was pushing up and inspecting his own palms, brow furrowed deeply before his gaze met mine.
“Rubi?” Calla shouted, crashing into my side. “Gods, what happened? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I offered, still watching Blake as Jace and Malissa made their way to him. Malissa looked frightened, a look I had never seen on her. “Is everyone okay?”
Quinn hovered behind her. “Yes—everyone is fine. But this place is about to blow.”
The flames were roaring out of control in the fireplace, licking up the walls.
“We need to go,” Quinn shouted, backing away slowly. “It’s growing too fast…”
It wasn’t working.
Arms swooped around my shoulders, Blake settling a warm cloak over me—though I didn’t feel cold. If anything, it still felt like my skin was burning.
“Can you walk?” he asked, his voice strained. I nodded but toppled over on the first step I attempted to take. He scooped me up and carried me out to Kingsolver.
The others mounted their tygers, Auron hopping on Venom with Malissa. Quinn and Calla shifted, sprinting into the night.
Blake lifted me onto Kingsolver’s back, sitting up behind me and wrapping me in his warmth. I laid a hand on the colossal tyger’s back.
Thank you.
Kingsolver chuffed, a deep, rumbling sound that vibrated through my palm. I couldn’t hear his words the way I did with Flame, but the warmth that radiated from him was enough.
You’re welcome, came the soft voice in my mind.
Flame padded up beside us, her copper pelt glowing in the moonlight. Her body pressed close to Kingsolver’s, her flank brushing mine. She looked up at him with her deep firelit eyes. Then at me.
Blake kept me steady as I pressed my hand to the star on her forehead.
My fear was momentarily washed away by thankfulness. We didn’t speak, but I could feel her gentleness and care. Her love for me.
It was enough to finally allow me to relax against Blake as we made our way back to camp. But the night wasn’t over yet. Not with all that lay between us.