Alice #2
Bringing his wrist to his mouth, he bit down, opening a vein and pressing it to my mouth.
His blood coated my tongue, and oh, gods…
it was the most wonderful thing I'd ever tasted, lighting my body on fire as it moved through me, and I came apart for a third time, a sob of pleasure and surrender on my lips as he controlled my body easily.
Then with a final, powerful thrust, he swelled inside of me. Tucking his face against my throat to stifle his cry, his big body shuddered with the force of his release before he collapsed on top of me, his weight a comforting anchor.
Holding his weight on his forearms so as not to crush me, he kissed my face, my throat, my breasts…his breathing harsh and uneven against my skin.
Every inch of me ached in the most wonderful way.
Every inch of me felt like it belonged to him. And only him.
When we were both breathing a little easier, he lifted his head, his eyes dark with the aftermath of passion, and whispered the undeniable truth against my lips. "I love you, too, yeobo."
We stayed tangled together long after, neither of us willing to move. His arm was heavy across my waist, his face pressed into the curve of my neck. One leg was thrown over both of mine. I couldn't move if I wanted to. And I didn't want to.
"Judy's going to kill us," I said eventually.
His laugh rumbled through his chest into mine. "It was totally worth it."
"You broke her rule."
"How will she know?" he asked. "She's not here. And you didn't stop me."
I couldn't argue with that. Besides, the fang marks on my throat were already healed.
And I wasn't sorry.
Dae shifted slightly, pulling me closer. "What are you thinking?"
"Can you still see it?" I asked quietly. "My aura—?"
"It's still there." His voice was careful. "But it's... different. Quieter."
The thought disgusted me. To think that thing was…satiated. "He felt what we did."
"Good." Dae's arm tightened around me. "Let him fucking choke on it."
I smiled despite myself, but the levity didn't last.
"Dae."
"Mm?"
"Will you explain to me again what you see?"
He was quiet for a long moment. Then he sighed and leaned away so we were facing each other, his hand still holding mine between us.
"The gold isn't yours," he said simply. "It's not coming from inside you—it's wound around you. One continuous thread weaved through yours natural color, wrapped through your magic and down into the bond."
"So we can cut him out?"
"Maybe. If you can undo the weave."
I met his eyes and he looked away, pulling our linked hands to his mouth to kiss my knuckles. But something wasn't right. "What? What are you not saying?"
For a moment I thought he wasn't going to tell me.
But then he met my gaze. "I don't know what's going to happen to us when it's severed.
" His voice was steady, but I could see the fear behind his eyes.
"His thread has been intertwined with ours all of this time.
As far as I can tell, it's part of the structure of the bond. And if we pull it out—"
My breath caught. "You think we'll lose…us?"
"I think it's possible."
"And if we do?"
His thumb traced circles on the back of my hand. "I don't know. If it acts like a normal mated bond, then you live and go back to aging normally, and I—" He stopped. Swallowed. "I don't know. Maybe nothing happens. Maybe the bond just... doesn't fully form. Maybe it breaks and we both survive it."
"Or maybe it doesn't." My voice came out smaller than I meant it to as I said the words he was reluctant to say.
"Or maybe it doesn't," he repeated, the ache in his voice reflected in me. "But if it doesn't, it's okay, yeobo. I've lived a long life, a complete life after being with you. And I'll go out grateful to have known you like this."
"Don't talk like that," I told him angrily. "We need more time, Dae, We haven't had enough time." My voice rose along with the renewed panic rising inside of me.
He brushed my hair away from my face. "Shhh, yeobo. It'll be okay."
The calm certainty in his tone should've terrified me. Instead, it settled something inside me. A cold, clear understanding that we both knew exactly what we were walking into tomorrow night.
"That's not going to happen," I said, decided. "He's not taking you from me. You said before that he knew this was going to happen between us. If he saw how fate was going to bring us together, then surely he can't break that bond."
Dae's eyes travelled over my face, like he was trying to memorize my features, and I hated that he was doing that because I knew exactly why. "Alice—"
"I mean it." I met his gaze and didn't look away. "We either both survive what's going to happen tomorrow, or neither of us do. I want to stay with you wherever that may be."
"??," he breathed, and then his mouth was on mine again, desperate and aching. His hands tangled in my hair, his forehead pressed to mine. "?? ??. My Alice—"
I kissed him back and tried not to think about how this might be the last time we could be with each other like this.
"Tomorrow night," Dae said quietly against my mouth. "It'll all be over."
"Tomorrow night," I echoed.
We didn't talk after that. Just held each other as the room slowly brightened, the sky outside going from black to gray to soft pink. Dae's breathing evened out first, his body going heavy beside me as the sunrise pulled him under.
I stayed awake a little longer, getting up once to close the curtains and make sure the sun wouldn't touch him while we slept. I heard the front door open. then Judy's footsteps, slow and deliberate, pausing outside the guest room door.
After a moment, the footsteps continued to her room. Her bedroom door clicked shut.
I closed my eyes and let the exhaustion take me.
***
That day, I dreamed for the first time in weeks.
I was in Judy's kitchen, with the old farmhouse sink and the herbs hanging in the window. But the light was wrong. Too golden, too warm, slanting through the glass at an angle that didn't match the time of day. And the clock on the wall had no hands.
I stood in the center of the room, my bare feet cold against the tile, and knew without being told that I wasn't alone.
"Hello, Alice."
The voice came from behind me. Low, warm, almost gentle. Slowly, I turned toward it.
Marcus stood in the doorway.
Dark hair, light skin, hazel eyes that shifted toward gold in the strange light. He was tall and lean, dressed in simple clothes that somehow looked both old-fashioned and expensive.
He smiled at me like we were old friends. "You look well," he said, stepping into the room. "Rested."
I didn't move. Didn't speak. Just watched him cross to the counter and lean against it, casual as anything.
"I thought it was time we talked," he continued. "Properly. Without all the—" He gestured vaguely. "Theatrics."
"This is a dream." My voice came out steady. Good.
"It is." He inclined his head. "But that doesn't make it any less real."
I stayed silent.
His smile widened slightly. "You're angry with me. I understand. I wasn't entirely forthcoming about my presence in your life these past few weeks. But I never lied, Alice. I told you the truth."
"You possessed me."
"I sheltered inside you," he corrected me. "After your coven members continued to try to kill me, I was feeling a little scattered. You were the safest place I could find."
"And you didn't think to ask?"
"Would you have said yes?"
"No!"
Marcus pushed off the counter and moved closer, stopping a few feet away. "Let me show you something."
He raised one hand, palm up, and light bloomed above it. It looked exactly like the light I'd called in my bedroom this morning.
"That's what your magic looks like now," he said softly. "Strong. Controlled. Powerful." He closed his fist and the light vanished. "How much of that do you think is you, and how much of it is me?"
My stomach turned. "I don't—"
"More than you want it to be," he finished gently. "I'm not saying this to hurt you, my Alice. I'm saying it because it's the truth. Your magic has grown because mine is woven through it. We're stronger together than we ever were apart."
"I didn't ask for that."
"No." He smiled again, softer this time.
"But you used it, didn't you? The strength.
The fearlessness. The way you stood up to your aunt, kept secrets from her, went after what you wanted instead of waiting for permission.
" He tilted his head. "That was you. But it was also me. I gave you the foundation to be brave."
"You made me a vessel."