Chapter 80
Eighty
Dendritic Agate
My wall of shadows still surrounds us, holding us in a safe bubble even as I can feel magic pelting against the barrier. Someone—or multiple someones—is trying to break through.
But then Graylen’s body stills, and my attention zeroes in on him once again.
With our palms still connected, I watch in wonder as the darkness evaporates from his eyes. Brilliant emerald irises sparkle back at me, filled with love and awe.
“You’re back?” I whisper hesitantly.
Graylen smiles—the sight causing the air to whoosh from my lungs. He stops trying to push me away and instead grips me tightly. His arms wrap around my waist, and he leans in, the scent of rain about to fall overwhelming me. His gaze sears into me, encasing me in warmth and joy and love.
There’s nothing left of the darkness that once distorted his face.
Gently, I reach up and tilt his chin to the side, finding that the snake tattoo still marks his flesh. I hope that it’s just ink now.
“Do you accept this bond?” he murmurs.
Tears spill down my cheeks as I finally hear him again.
“I accept,” I rasp.
He presses his forehead against mine. Even as the muted sounds of crashing and breaking filter in through my shadows, and the feeling of magic attempting to pierce through still wages on, he whispers, “I accept. Always.”
Screams erupt around us, but my focus is on him. On my soulbonded.
I gasp as a searing pain burns into my palm at the same time Graylen hisses.
We pull back, holding our hands out side by side and peering down at them.
The wounds I cut into our flesh are gone, replaced by stark-white, freshly healed scars.
“The mark of the soulbond will stay with you until your dying breath,” a warm feminine voice says into my mind.
My eyes lock with Graylen’s, wondering if he heard it, too.
The connection between us, our ability to communicate through our minds, was always more than him being a strong Aegis and me being different.
Our souls were always meant for one another; we just had to choose each other first. I’m his, just as he is mine.
And they hurt what’s mine. Locked him inside his own body and forced him to bring me here.
Vidaris did this to him—to me.
Rage swells inside my chest, swirling around with a fierce desperation begging to be released. My Essence feels different, even now. It doesn’t feel the same as before—not stronger or weaker, just…different. Like it still isn’t whole.
But all I can focus on is the knowledge that Vidaris brought us here to hurt us. That Opal was always on the Goddess of Vengeance’s side and tricked me into trusting her. I can hear the echoes of laughter from the monsters at the ball as Daimon killed one of their kind.
They don’t deserve to live. They don’t deserve mercy.
Finally, I let my magic take what it wants.
Even as fire and shadows and a burning white light explode from my body, I don’t look away from him. And he doesn’t look away from me.
My power doesn’t scare me. Not anymore.
“You’re going to kill them all.” The words fall out of his mouth slowly, and he tilts his head to the side, no sense of judgment in his gaze. Not a question, but an understanding.
For what they did to him? For the stinging betrayal of Opal having lied to me my entire life and seeing the evil that consumes this place?
Gladly.
“There is no mercy left within me.” Each word causes my Essence to bubble to the surface, begging for a final release.
Graylen nods once, holding me tight.
With a deep breath, I let it go.
Magic pours out of me, rushing past the cocoon Graylen and I are locked in as it devours everything in its path.
It pauses at two familiar figures, their magic like light in the darkness of the room. Instead of devouring them, it wraps them in safety. Protecting them as the rest of my shadows leave no survivors.
I feel my magic spread out like tendrils beyond the castle and into the forest around it. A hazy image appears in my mind: trees burning, birds scattering into the skies, and dodder-infested fields being turned to ash.
And I let it all burn.