“She won’t,” I snarl, reaching for my magic. It sparks, but it isn’t as potent as it used to be, somehow diminished by the absence of complete control.
“Like fuck she won’t.” Galen doesn’t flinch. His voice lowers, but the iron in it doesn’t waver. “I’m your brother, Kade. I’ve always had your back. But this? This is madness. You’re blind to what she’s doing to you.”
“She’s not doing anything to me,” I snap, the anger I’ve been holding back from slipping free. “You think I don’t know what this bond is? What it’s costing me?”
“Then why the fuck did you do it?” Galen demands, his voice rising.
I take a breath and let his question fill the silence between us. The truth is a knot in my chest, tangled and raw. Against every rule I’ve made, every line I’ve drawn, Zara’s under my skin. She was never supposed to matter. She was supposed to be a tool, a necessary piece in the greater game I’m playing. I thought I could use her, like I’ve used others before. But Zara doesn’t bend. She doesn’t obey. She fights me, resists me at every turn, and somehow, that’s what makes her impossible to ignore.
The blood weave has blurred the lines between us. It whispers to me, feeding me her pain, her anger, her fear. And her strength. Gods, her strength. She’s like a fire from Hell—beautiful, untamable, and dangerous. I should have stamped it out when I had the chance.
But I didn’t.
Because even now, when every instinct tells me to sever the bond, to reclaim what’s mine, I hesitate. The thought of losing her, even at the cost of my own power, twists something in me that I can’t name. It’s madness. It’s weakness. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt, and it terrifies me.
The horrific truth is I didn’t have a choice when this spell was cast, and I don’t have a choice now. My magic, my control, my being, slips through my fingers like grains of sand, and with every passing second, I lose more of myself. My steadiness. My clarity. My power. And in return, I have her. Zara. A girl who may never truly trust me, who may never truly be mine.
Zara could burn me to the ground if I let her.
But the thought of walking away is worse.
“I know what I’m doing,” I lie, my voice hard.
“No, you don’t,” Galen snaps. “If you did, you wouldn’t look like hell. You wouldn’t be drained, unraveling at the seams while she takes and takes without even meaning to.” He steps closer, lowering his voice. “This isn’t love, Kade. It’s suicide.”
I bristle, my magic flaring faintly in response, but the energy I call is still weaker than it should be, stretched thin. Galen notices, his eyes narrowing.
“See?” he mutters. “You’re already breaking.”
“Enough.” My voice cracks like thunder, echoing down the hall. I shove past him, pacing to the other side of the landing. “I don’t need a lecture, Galen. I need to restore balance.”
“Then you know the answer.”
I turn to him sharply, my hands clenched into fists. “What are you saying?”
“Break the blood weave,” Galen says flatly, his gaze piercing. “Cut her loose before it kills you both.”
The words hit me like a physical blow, a punch that knocks the air from my lungs and leaves me winded. My mind reels with the suggestion, a dozen memories flashing through my mind, followed by a dozen fantasies of what Zara and I could become. I want her, and I want her laughter, her stubbornness, and the way she looks at me like I’m the only one who can save her.
I’ve never wanted to be a hero, but I want to be hers.
She’s the exception to all my instincts, the anomaly in all the rules I live by. She’s the opposition to all I want and yet she’s all I need, and she’s what I desire for myself.
“I can’t,” I say finally, my voice barely more than a whisper.
“You won’t,” Galen counters.
I shake my head, frustration clawing at my throat. “You don’t understand, Galen. The blood weave is more than magic. It’s her. She’s in it. In me. And I’m in her. Zara’s more powerful than any other witch I’ve known and I can turn her. I can fix this.”
“You sound delusional,” Galen says, his tone softening for the first time. “She’s inside you, Kade, and she’s going to hollow you out if you let her.”
I’m losing control. If I don’t find a way to regain it, it will kill me. Maybe both of us, if I cannot survive. The blood weave won’t let Zara thrive without me, and we ought to be in balance by now. We’re not, and I’m standing on the edge of a precipice, knowing the fall will kill me but I’m unable to step back.
“It can’t be broken, Galen,” I say, my voice firm now. “But I will find a way to control it. To control her.”
Galen raises an eyebrow, his expression skeptical. “Andhow do you plan to do that?”
“I don’t know yet,” I admit, meeting his gaze. “But I’ll figure it out. I have to.”
