Page 104 of Fate and Fury

“One for the fire,” she whispered, refusing to let go.

“Two for the storm,” he whispered back, and then his mouth was on hers.

If their first kiss had been a blaze, this was an inferno. Niko’s hands roved over her, desperate and grasping, her hair tangling in his fists. He nipped at her mouth, growling louder, and she nipped back, reveling in the taste of him: mint and night and Niko. Her fingers traced his brand again and again, and he shook beneath her touch. His face grew wet against hers, their tears mingling as their bond rejoiced, its severed edges sizzling with light as it knitted together.

With each thread that wove into place, she felt the echo of it deep within herself. A moan escaped her lips, and Niko echoed it, his body shifting restlessly as his mouth devoured hers. Power poured between them, from her to him and back again.

“Mine,” she vowed against his lips, and a rough sob escaped him.

“Yours,” he whispered. “Always.”

The final threads of the bond wove themselves together, forged in fire. There was something different to it now, a dark thread woven amidst the rest, and that scared her. But it was here, it was whole. And for the first time in weeks, so was she.

She drew back from Niko, raising her face to his. She had never seen him cry, but now, his cheeks were wet with both of their tears. “My Shadow,” she said, and felt the rightness of thewords in heart and soul and body. “For I have not promised myself to another.”

The line of his throat moved as he swallowed. “You still want me, then? You would honor me by letting me fight by your side?”

The question floored Katerina. She tugged him down to sit by her, on the ruined stones of the altar. “Where else would you be?”

In his eyes glimmered a devastation that mirrored her own. “I feared you wouldn’t want me anymore. That you’d think me sullied, after…what she did to me.”

A wave of fury crested within Katerina. She wanted to ask what, exactly, Elena had done. And then she wanted to go back to the Underworld and hurt Elena Lisova in exactly the same ways, and worse. But she couldn’t bear to frame the question. If Niko wanted to tell her, he would.

Instead, she took his face in her hands, her fingers tangling in the silken waves at the nape of his neck. “Whatever happened to you when we were apart,” she said, her voice fierce, “whatever she did to you…it was not your fault, Niko. Do you hear me? You died with honor, giving your life to save mine. You are a prince among Shadows.”

He shook his head again, his gaze falling to the stones at his feet. “You say that, Katerina, but you don’t know. She…she made me kneel to her. The things she made me say and do…how she made me…”

His voice trailed off, and Katerina could feel the self-hatred baking off of him. The shame. She couldn’t stand it. “Look at me,” she said again, filling her voice with the command she used to employ when they fought side by side.

Niko’s gaze met hers, filled with defiance and regret…and the brokenness that made her want to tear what remained of Elena from limb to limb.

“Youlook,” he said. “And tell me you still want me now.”

Katerina straightened her spine. “Iknowyou, Niko Alekhin, Shadow of Kalach. You’re the other half of my heart. The other half of my soul. Whatever she did to you, whatever she made you vow, however she sought to use you”—her voice cracked on the last two words—“you’re still beautiful. You’re still mine.” She took his hands, squeezing them tight. “I descended to the Underworld and dealt with demons for you, and I would do so again. You are worthy of the Light.”

Niko bit his lip, swollen from her kisses. “How can you be sure?” His eyes searched hers, fear warring with hope in his gaze.

“You can trust me.” She leaned forward to kiss him, feather-light.

A tear traced a line down his face, following the uneven path of his scar. “I swore to fight for you. To have you see me like that—helpless, her slave—to put you in danger…”

“You didn’t put me anywhere.” Katerina’s voice was fierce. “I went of my own free will. Think about it. Since when have you been able to make me do anything?”

Niko gave a rough laugh. It was bitter, but better than nothing. “That much is true, more’s the pity. When you confronted Elena—when the windows exploded and I knew it was you standing outside, really you and not one of their damnable illusions…” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I never thought I would see you again. To see you standing there—it was like my dreams and my worst fears had materialized, all at once.”

“I know what you mean,” Katerina muttered.

Her Shadow’s jaw set in a grim line. “To go down to the Underworld, knowing you couldn’t count on your magic…to confront whatever Elena’s become and the Venom of God in his own realm, all on the slim hope that you could rescue me…”He shook his head. “What if you’d failed, Katya? What if they’d killed you, right in front of me?”

Katerina didn’t want to think about Niko suffering the same way she had when she’d watched him die in the clearing. She sniffed, holding back tears. “How did you know it was really me?” she said instead. “Just because Sammael said so?”

The tears that glossed her eyes blurred Niko’s face. When she blinked to clear her vision, he was smiling at her again—a sad smile, but a smile nonetheless. “I didn’t need Sammael to tell me anything,” he said. “Bond or no, alive or no, I know you, Katya, just as you know me. I would know you anywhere. You’re beautiful and stubborn andmine.And as soon as I saw you standing on that infernal street, witchfire licking at your ankles and one of my blades in your hand, I knew you’d come for me.”

The tears broke free, streaking her cheeks. “I’ll always come for you,” she promised. “No matter when, no matter where. The bargain I struck—it’s less than what I wanted, but it’ssomething,Niko. I’ll figure out a way to break her hold on you. I promise.”

He wrapped his arms around her then, holding her tight. She held him back with all of her strength, keeping him with her, keeping himsafe,as she had not been able to keep him then. “You’re everything to me,” she whispered against his shoulder. “No matter what happens to either of us, dead or alive, I will always belong to you. And you will always, always be mine.”

“My Katya,” he whispered back, and this time when they kissed, she felt all of him: grief, love, regret, rage, and desire, an intoxicating brew that made her want to lay him down on the chapel’s shattered stones and prove to him they still belonged together. To stake her claim, once and for all.

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