Chapter 7 #2
“That’s why you can’t go back to him, ael’sura,” Loren said. “I’m sorry. I never wanted to take your choice away from you.”
“But you did take my choice,” she said. “And now what? You tell me I’m your mate and that’s it? I just stay here forever because you say so? How is that any different from what Jaxon did?”
“I don’t own you,” Loren protested, his words tumbling out like they’d been dammed up inside him for weeks. “Yes, I claimed you—but only to get you to safety. I swear, I have no expectations that you’ll complete it. Eloria might make an issue of it, but—”
“Eloria?” Araya stared at him. “Why would your sister care?”
“She thinks completing the bond will help me control the shadows.” Loren glanced away, like he couldn’t bear to meet her eyes. “But I don’t care. I didn’t even want to tell you—”
“You weren’t even going to tell me?” Araya pressed a hand to her chest, trying to relieve the pressure as heat coiled under her skin. Loren’s mouth was moving, answering her. But she couldn’t hear him anymore—her world narrowing to the fury boiling in her blood.
Magic rose to meet it, a rising tide of aether that bloomed behind her ribs, splitting her skin—
“Araya—” Loren froze, his shadows rising around him. “Your magic. You have to—”
But his warning came too late.
Sparks leapt from her fingertips, racing up her arms. Then floor shuddered under their feet, sending her to her knees as chips of stone rained down on them.
Araya pressed her hands to the floor, fighting to ground herself—but the pressure just kept building.
Her blood burned in her veins, the wild tang of aether searing her nose as it pressed against her skin.
“You have to control it.” Loren’s voice cut through the roaring in her ears as he dropped to his knees beside her. “You’re going to bring this crypt down right on top of us.”
“I—I can’t,” Araya choked out, the words nearly lost in the rush of power drowning her. “I don’t know how.”
She could feel it slipping—no, crashing—out of her control. Threads of aether lashed like bolts of lightning, sparking against the stone. The world tilted on its axis, that wild, uncontrollable power spiraling closer and closer to the peak where it would rip her and everyone around her to pieces.
Loren hesitated, his eyes flashing. But then, with a muttered curse, he surged forward, closing the distance between them.
“Let me help you,” he begged, holding out his hand. “Before you kill us both.”
Araya’s mind screamed at her to push him away, to refuse his help, but the power still churning inside her didn’t leave room for pride or fear.
She reached for him, their fingers tangling.
Aether roared down the bridge between their bodies, pouring from her like water over a shattered damn.
Araya gasped, collapsing against him as relief and agony twisted together in a dizzying spiral. Gods, it felt—
Wrong. It should have felt wrong. Her whole life, having her power drained had left her hollow. Weak. Like something vital had been scraped from the core of her being. But this—
This felt like the first deep breath after drowning. Like the sun thawing her from the inside out after an endless winter. Heat uncoiled in her chest, settling deep in her belly where it pulsed in time with something ancient and primal.
She shuddered in Loren’s arms, caught between the urge to pull away and the dark, undeniable certainty that this was different.
Loren’s lips brushed her ear, whispering something she didn’t quite catch.
She shivered, losing herself in the feel of his hands stroking down her back, the scrape of his nails against her scalp as he combed the sticks and leaves from her hair.
The shadows curled around them both, pulsing with the same frantic rhythm as their hearts.
Araya didn’t know how long she floated there, melting into the warmth of his embrace until she couldn’t tell where his power ended and hers began.
By the time she came back to herself, she was curled in his arms, her fists tangled in the fabric of his shirt like she’d been clinging to him for her life.
Araya wrenched herself back, scrambling out of his arms. Loren let her go without protest, even the shadows dropping away to gather at his feet again. He watched, not speaking as she hastily smoothed down her clothes.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
Araya managed a shaky nod, pressing a trembling hand to her chest, trying to steady her racing heart. Gods, she’d nearly killed them both.
“Fine,” she croaked. “I’m fine. Thank you. I’ll just—”
“You won’t do anything until you explain what just happened,” Loren said, his voice sharp. “Why is your magic surging? Didn’t Ilyana give you exercises to do?”
Araya’s head snapped up. “Are you having the Healer spy on me?”
“That’s not what this is about.” Loren scowled down at her. “Are you doing the exercises she gave you?”
“She just gave them to me this morning,” Araya huffed, crossing her arms. “But they aren’t going to help. I’m not meant to have this much power. In the New Dominion I had Jaxon to siphon it off me, but here—”
Loren’s expression darkened.
“Every drop of that power belongs to you.” His fingers closed around her wrist, tugging her forward. Shadows rose around them, creeping up her arm like they wanted to claim her too. “You have exactly as much as you were meant to have. You aren’t some vessel to be emptied at his will—”
Araya yanked her arm away, putting two large steps between them.
“Don’t,” she snapped. “You don’t get to act like you know everything about my power. Just because you skimmed some off the top—”
Loren flinched, his shadows recoiling like she’d struck them both.
“That’s not—” he stopped, taking a deep breath. “This isn’t the same. What Shaw did to you—it wasn’t power sharing. It was theft.”
“It wasn’t,” Araya argued. “I agreed to it. I needed it.”
“Did you?” Loren’s gaze sharpened. “Goddess, Araya—do you really believe you had any choice there? What he took from you—what he did—” his jaw tightened, fury written in every line of his face. “It was a violation of everything you are. Every time.”
Araya faltered, her retort dying on her tongue.
“I don’t need you to believe me, Araya.” His voice had lost its edge—he wasn’t pushing her anymore. He was begging her to listen. “But please, stop believing him.”
Araya took a step back, desperate to break the connection between them. But it just stretched, unspooling between them like a string stretched tight. The bond, he’d called it.
“We should—” her voice wavered, and she cleared her throat, forcing the words out. “We should get back. People are probably looking for us—”
“You’re right, ael’sura.” Loren smiled sadly at her. “Let’s go home.”