Chapter 159
‘Jiselle*
I woke to the scent of scorched earth and the steady rhythm of Nathaniel’s heartbeat against my spine. The explosion that had torn through the canyon still echoed in my bones, but the fire no longer raged. It pulsed now–slow, deep, ancient.
Inside me, the flame had changed.
It wasn’t the violent hunger that had once lashed out through my veins. It didn’t scream or claw or threaten to consume. It breathed. Heavy. Patient. Waiting.
But I didn’t feel alone in it.
The bond hummed softly against my skin, like it had coiled itself along every edge of me, quiet but present. Nate’s arm curled tighter around my waist, anchoring me. His breath warmed the curve of my shoulder.
“You’re awake,” he murmured without opening his eyes.
“I am.”
“How do you feel?”
I rolled slowly to face him. “Like something chose me… and I haven’t figured out whether it’s a blessing or a curse.”
He opened his eyes, and there was no fear in them. Just devotion. A steady, unwavering thing that made my throat ache.
“We’ll figure it out together.”
I nodded. But part of me wasn’t ready to speak yet. Not about the Gate. Not about what I’d seen–what I’d felt in those final moments before the light took us.
So I slid out from under the covers, wrapping a blanket around myself, and slipped outside.
The camp was quieter than usual. No sparring. No murmured strategy. Just firelight and wind, rustling through tents like a whisper of warning.
I found Max near the edge of the perimeter, sharpening a blade against a flat piece of obsidian. He didn’t look up when I approached. Didn’t stop.
But he spoke.
“I thought you’d be with him.”
“I was,” I said. “Now I’m here.”
He nodded. Another slow scrape against the blade.
“I didn’t expect you to come.”
“I didn’t expect you to stay.”
That made him glance up. His eyes were tired. Hollow in a way that no amount of sleep would ever fix.
“Where else would I go?”
I sat across from him, cross–legged. We didn’t say anything for a moment. Just breathed the same smoke–laced air.
“I’m not angry anymore,” I said softly.
1/5
Chapter 159
His hand stilled.
“I thought I would be, for the rest of my life. But after everything with the Gates.. with Kael… the flame inside me…” I trailed off. “There’s no room left for holding onto things that heavy.”
Max exhaled, long and low. “I never wanted forgiveness.”
“Then why are you still here?”
He looked up, meeting my gaze with something raw and painfully human.
“Because I still love you.”
I didn’t flinch. Didn’t cry. I just let him say it.
“I don’t expect anything,” he added quickly. “Not your love. Not your time. Hell, not even your trust. But when that Gate opens, and it will open… I want to be in front of you. I want to be the one it touches first.”
“That’s not what love is, Max.”
“I know. But it’s what mine is.”
He lowered the blade into his lap.
“I don’t get to ask for a future. I destroyed that. I know that now. But I can still give you something else. A shield. A blade. A delay.”
The emotion tightened in my chest, but not from grief. From closure. From something old loosening its grip.
“You really mean that?” I asked.
“I do.”
“Then be careful,” I said, standing. “Because I might actually let you.”
He offered a bitter smile. “Wouldn’t be the worst way to die.”
“No,” I said gently. “But maybe–just maybe–it’s not how your story ends.”
He didn’t answer. But his shoulders straightened.
That was enough.
I turned away before the wind could steal the last of my strength, walking back toward the tent I shared with Nate. The bond tugged as I neared it, like it had felt every word, every breath I’d taken outside.
When I slipped inside, the firelight was dim. Nate had lit only one lantern, casting the space in soft golden amber. He stood at the center, bare–chested, arms crossed, eyes fixed on me like I’d been gone too long.
“You alright?” he asked.
I nodded. “I needed to say goodbye to something.
He didn’t ask what.
Just opened his arms.
And I walked into them
This time, I didn’t tremble. I didn’t flinch.
2/5
Chapter 159
I just let go.
His lips found my temple first. Then my cheek. Then the corner of my mouth. His hands slid across my waist, up my spine, grounding me in ways even the bond couldn’t replicate,
“I want to mark you,” he whispered.
My breath caught.
“I know it won’t fix everything,” he went on. “But I want it to mean something. Not survival. Not desperation. Just… us.”
I tilted my chin up, eyes burning.
“Then do it.”
He paused.
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been more.”
Nate didn’t waste another second.
He bent, lips brushing the curve of my neck. My breath hitched as his canines grazed my skin–not biting, not yet. Just waiting. Asking one last time with nothing but silence.
And then-
I nodded,
His teeth sank in gently. Not with violence. Not with hunger. With reverence.
The bond didn’t just flare. It sang. It lit up every vein, every nerve, every old wound that hadn’t yet healed. And in its place, something new took root.
A seal.
Of choice.
Of love.
Of sovereignty.
I gasped, arching into him as the mark sealed. Nate caught me as I nearly collapsed, cradling me in his arms like something sacred.
But we weren’t finished.
The kiss that followed wasn’t desperate.
It was slow.
Measured.
Claiming.
His hands moved under the blanket I still wore, trailing over my skin like he was memorizing it for the hundredth time–and still couldn’t get enough.
My fingers fumbled with the ties of his pants. He hissed softly against my lips but didn’t stop me.
There was no rush.
18
09:06 Hill 13 Jun 10,
Chapter 1591
Just the hum of magic. The thrum of bond. The ache of two bodies, two souls, finally finally whvold
When he slid into me, I didn’t cry out.
1 breathed.
Because this wasn’t fire anymore.
It was home.
He moved slowly at first, like we had all the time in the world. My hands gripped his shoulders, nails digging into skin as I rocked against him
We kissed through every thrust. Every slow roll of hips. Every gasp that turned into a whisper of names, of promises, of things we’d never gotten to say
before this.
“I love you,” I choked out, trembling as the pleasure built low in my spine.
His eyes burned into mine. “Then take everything.”
And I did.
I let myself shatter.
Let myself fall.
Let the flame inside me rise–not to consume, but to crown.
His name left my mouth on a moan, and he followed with mine, breaking into me one final time, marking not with teeth now, but with body. With soul.
When it was over, we stayed tangled.
Naked.
Marked.
Whole.
And for the first time in a long time-
Safe.
The bond settled quietly between us, a gentle, living thing no longer frayed or cracked. I could feel it weaving deeper than ever before. Through flesh. Through magic. Through memory.
fell asleep with my head on his chest, his hand in my hair, and the mark on my neck still warm.
But peace doesn’t last long in our world.
A sharp gasp jolted me awake,
The tent flap burst open.
Eva stood there, wild–eyed and shaking.
Her voice broke.
“I saw it,” she whispered.
Nate sat up beside me. “Saw what?”
4/5
09:06 Fri, 13 Jun O
Chapter 159
Her lips parted.
“Not fire,” she said.
“Then what?” I asked, heart already sinking.
She looked at me.
Then at the mark on my neck.
And finally at the scar still glowing faintly on my back.
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
