He’s a blur, moving faster than I can track, his magic a dark, crackling force that clashes with the warlocks’ attacks. But it isn’t just his magic—it’s ours. Kade’s stunning and I can’t take my eyes off him, even though I can’t see him. He’s stolen my breath and I gush, almost turning into a feeble, star-struck floozy as he unleashes a form of magic that’s as beautiful as it is terrifying.
The blood weave surges, pulling at me, forcing my power to align with his. I don’t have a choice. I don’t have control. I don’t know what the hell’s happening other than heat and warmth and chaos incarnate.
The magic inside me roars to life, wild and untamed. Fire explodes from my hands, colliding with Kade’s shadowy energy. It doesn’t cancel out—it fuses into a volatile, pulsing force that tears through the battlefield. The fire twists and writhes, no longer just flame, but something darker, tinged with streaks of inky black. The heat of it scorches the earth, leaving jagged scorch marks that crackle with Kade’s shadowy residue. The ground beneath us groans, split apart by the violent convergence of power, while the air shimmers with oppressive heat and swirling darkness.
The warlocks hesitate, their ranks breaking as the first wave of our combined magic surges outward. It moves likea living thing, tendrils of fire and shadow lashing out unpredictably. A wall of flames consumes one of them entirely, while another is dragged backward into a snare of black energy, screaming as it coils tighter.
“What the hell are you doing?” I scream, my voice straining as I try to pull back, to separate myself from him.
“I’m not doing this!” Kade snarls, his eyes wild. “You think I want to share power with you?”
It’s terrifying and beautiful. It’s a storm we can’t control but are somehow feeding, amplifying with every breath, every heartbeat. I feel the blood weave thrumming between us, a pulse that matches the rhythm of the chaos. But there’s a pattern to it too, some sort of structure on which the carnage rests. I don’t understand it and I can’t manipulate it, but in the madness there’s an order that impossibly makes the destruction more potent.
More lethal.
More pleasing.
Kade glances at me, his face hard but his eyes gleaming with something I can’t place. “You’re holding back,” he growls, the words sharp and cutting.
“I don’t feel like dying in a magical explosion,” I snap, though I can feel the heat building in my veins, demanding to be unleashed.
“You won’t die.” His voice is low, a command. “Not if you trust me.”
I want to tell him I don’t trust him, but the battlefield gives me no time for clever retorts. A spear of crimson light hurtles toward me, and Kade’s shadows lash out, swallowing it before it can pierce my chest. The movement is instinctive, seamless, as though we’ve been fighting side by side for years.
But this is no partnership. This is survival.
Another blast hits, and we both stumble. The weave burns hot, pulling tighter, drawing us into sync whether we want it or not. I hate this—and I want to hate him for being a part of this—but I can’t fight it.
I snatch a breath and make a choice, unsure if it’s real or not, and commit to throwing everything I have at the assholes who dared to threaten us.
And I will burn down the entire city to keep us safe. To keep him safe. The Gods have abandoned me to this insanity, but I will destroy all of Varric’s Hollow and every last soul residing in it to keep Kade alive.
A warlock lunges at me, his blade aimed for my throat. I don’t think. The blood weave thinks for me. My body moves on its own, spinning to avoid the blow while Kade’s magic shoots out like a whip, knocking the attacker aside.
The force of it sends me to my knees. I gasp, clutching the ground as power courses through me. It isn’t just magic—it’s rage, fear, fire, shadow. It’s light and dark, chaos and order. It’s heaven and hell and everything that exists in between. It’s love and hate combined. It’s Kade. Me. Us.
“Zara!” His voice cuts through the chaos.
I look up to see him fighting off two warlocks at once, his movements brutal and efficient. Blood coats his blades,painting them the crimson of a well-trained killer, and his eyes glow with the same dark power that pulses through me.
The battlefield is chaos, but Kade is its unrelenting center. Every strike of his blade is calculated, deadly, and I can feel the echo of each movement as if it’s carved into my own skin. The blood weave pulls tighter, binding us in a way that defies logic and terrifies me.
I scramble to my feet, ignoring the burn of magic coursing through me. Another warlock charges, his handsglowing with a spell I don’t recognize. There’s no time to hesitate. My blades flash, cutting through his defense, and the spell fizzles out before it can reach me.
Kade is beside me now, the space between us collapsing as more warlocks surge forward. “Stay close,” he commands, his voice a growl.
“Not like I have a choice,” I snap, but my body obeys before my mind can rebel.
The weave surges again, and for a moment, the world blurs. I see Kade through a haze of magic, his movements perfectly in sync with mine, his power augmenting my own. It’s intoxicating and maddening all at once. A thunderous crack splits the air, and the earth beneath us trembles. The warlocks are regrouping, their leaders barking commands from the safety of the walls. Spells light up the battlefield, a deadly tapestry of fire, lightning, and shadow.
“Kade, we should move!” I shout over the roar of magic.
His gaze locks onto mine, intense and unyielding. “We’re not done yet.”
He raises his hand and the surrounding shadows explode outward, consuming the advancing warlocks. Their screams are swallowed by the darkness, and the weave burns hotter, pushing me to the brink. I stagger, my vision swimming. The power is too much, it’s too wild, too uncontrollable, and it’s taking everything I have not to let it consume me entirely.
“Zara.” His voice is low, almost gentle, cutting through the storm inside me. “Focus. I’ve got you and you can do this.”
