Page 115 of A Debt of Darkness

This isn’t the time to make a mistake.

It’s not the time to be unsure.

It’s the time to find my goddamn mark and hit it.

My feet stop and we stand so damn close but so far apart it’s agony. Henry’s eyebrow arches and I know I’m late again. I’m letting my nerves get the better of me and I close my eyes, snatching a few seconds of calm before another storm.

I cling to the delicate fabric of my dress and my knees bend, slowly and lowering to the ground.

Henry exhales and his tension breaks.

I inhale and my tension rises.

The red box looms before me and I stare at it, transfixed by the candlelight as it catches the velvet. It’s shimmering and my breathing hitches as Henry’s fingers glide across it, unhooking the latch with a resounding click.

“It’s okay, lea.”

My eyes snap up to his and I find all the reassurance I need in his calm, controlled gaze. His knuckles brush my cheek and I exhale, oblivious to everyone else around us. This is ours. This is us. And this moment is something we’ll do together, as a pair.

“Did you want to see?” he asks.

He’s softened when I needed him, deviating from the plan to give me a choice. It’s one he’s trusting me to make and it’s the lifeline I need, and my head nods before my mouth can get my words out.

“Good girl.”

Henry’s grinning like a goddamn idiot as his hands open the box and there’s not a fucking chance I’m going to be speaking soon. It’s not a fucking collar. It’s a choker necklace.Its diamonds dazzle and the rubies shine like dark red torches, sitting in gold loops and swirls.

“It matches your ring,” Henry says. “That is your tradition, and this is mine.”

Balance.

We’re in perfect equilibrium.

Not equal, and not in opposition.

I smile as Henry’s fingers shake almost imperceptibly as he lifts the collar from its casing, and they calm as his hands slide it onto my neck. It fits around the base and extends up, covering less than I’d expected but more than feels easy.

Henry gently pushes my head down and locks the back in place, securing the choker around my neck.

“It stays on, lea. Unless I take it off.”

I know. He’s been explicit about this already. Henry isn’t saying it because I need to know it. He needs the entire coven to know I know, and I’ve accepted this collar for all it is, without hesitation. Without question.

Because it means I’ve accepted him.

As he’s accepted me.

“Master.”

His eyes close and his relief and joy are palpable. More than that. They’re present. They’re a wave of emotion that hits me in the chest and leaves me breathless. It’s unexpected and it’s a storm as intense as any hurricane, colliding into me and carrying me away.

It’s heavy and it’s light. It’s fire and ice. The pain and pleasure of an eternity spent living half a life. There’s a tether binding me to him, and him to me—and neither of us could escape it, even if we wanted to. It’s a bond running from me to him and back again, and although I don’t understand it, I’mcertain this is right.

It’s the tether that holds us together. The light the priest tried to summon. It’s as bright and as present as sunlight and as magical and mysterious as moonlight. It’s all we are, all we ever were and ever will be, and the sound of Henry’s music plays as my silence contains it.

I burn as Henry’s presence pours into me, flooding my body and mind with a force I can’t withstand. My head turns light, my vision narrows and my heart jumps, skipping beats as it tries to remember what it's meant to be doing.

I sway and Henry grabs me, lifting me into his arms.

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