Page 55 of Bound in Flames

“You’re not going to turn into one of them,” I said as I stepped closer, my hands gripping her arms tightly to anchor her. To keep her from slipping into the spiral of doubt. “You’re not like them. You couldneverbe like them.”

She didn’t believe me. I could see it in the way her lips pinched together, the way her fingers clung to my forearms as though I were the only thing keeping her upright. “But I feel it,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “That raw, dark power… it’s right there, and it’s waiting for me to use it. It’s so seductive when it calls to me. What if I’m not strong enough to resist? What if we’re desperate enough, and I open that door? And then what? What happens when I lose control!”

The memory of her vision surfaced like a cruel reminder: the shadows consuming her, or her magic blazing to defend us, leaving nothing but scorched earth where she had once stood. The prophecy weighed heavy on my shoulders, its promise of destruction clawing at my mind.Was this the fate we couldn’t escape? My people wiped from Ostelan, or worse—my matedestroyed, consumed by her own power as she fought to protect my people?

I cupped her face, forcing her to meet my eyes. “You won’t lose control,” I said fiercely, my voice shaking with the force of my conviction. “Because I’ll be with you. When the darkness pulls at you, you draw on me. You pull from my strength, Cleo. I’m your mate. It’s my responsibility to keep you safe.”

Her lip quivered and her hands fisted in my shirt, clinging to me like a lifeline. “Promise me you won’t let me hurt anyone. If something happens, if I can’t control it, you’ll do whatever it takes to stop me. Even if?—”

I tightened my hands on her arms, clenching my jaw so hard it felt like my teeth might shatter. She was asking the impossible. How could I promise that? How could I even consider it? She was my mate.My life. The one thing in this world I couldn’t lose. How was I supposed to sacrifice her, even to save others?

“Don’t ask me for that.” I growled in warning.

“You have to, Dex. If it comes down to it, you have to protect the clan. You have to protect them from me.” Her eyes shimmered with tears.

A rage burned deep in my gut. Running a frustrated hand through my hair I stepped away, pacing the terrace, faired my anger would scare her. “You’re asking me to choose between you and them,” I growled dangerously, “Do you even realize what you’re saying? You’re my mate, Cleo!My mate.There is no choice!”

Her fear and frustration tipped the scales, and angry tears spilled over, racing down her cheeks, “But there has to be! If I lose control and I become dangerous, you have to stop me. Promise me.”

I stared at her, the crazy woman who had become my entire world, and felt something dark and feral unfurl. “No!” My voice was thick with barely restrained rage. “Do you hear me? I’ll killanyone—anything—that comes close to making you lose control. I’ll rip them apart with my bare hands if I have to. But I will not loose you.”

Cleo’s lips trembled as she looked away from me, shaking her head dismissively. “You can’t save me from myself.”

“Watch me,” I stepped closer until there was no space between us. My hands roughly grabbed her face, my fingers pressing into her soft skin. “You’remine, Cleo. My duty. My mate. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you. From the shadows, from the world, or from yourself. I don’t care what it takes.”

Her breath hitched, and I kissed her fiercely, pouring everything I couldn’t articulate into the press of my lips. Love, desperation, fear—it all bled into that kiss, a vow as much as it was a plea. I finally pulled back breathless, and pressed my lips to her forehead. “Don’t ask me to promise what I can’t give. I’ll fight for you, Cleo. To my last breath.”

Cleo twisted her hands around the leather of my armor, clutching me close while her tears soaked into my chest. “I’m so scared, Dex,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“You won’t, I’ll be there. Every step. Every battle. You won’t ever fight this alone.”

Dusk fell and the shadows crept closer, but I held her continued to hold her trembling body, stroking lazily across her back in comfort. I knew one thing for certain. I would do whatever it took to keep her safe. Even if it destroyed me.

Chapter 29

Cleo

Ieased back, clinging desperately to the fragile thread of control as emotions surged beneath my skin like a storm threatening to break free. Below, the warm glow of fires illuminated the terraces, and orcs were bustling with the rhythm of an evening steeped in resilience. The sharp clang of metal pierced the air as warriors sharpened their blades. Children’s laughter echoed through the air, a fleeting innocence that seemed too delicate to exist against the ever-present shadows gathering in the valley below.

They were a proud, strong people, and yet there was an undeniable fragility woven into the fabric of their existence. The weight of their survival sat on my shoulders—a burden I hadn’t asked for but couldn’t shake. They looked to me, their shaman, to protect them. They believed I could save them.

“They trust too much in the prophecy,” I murmured, my eyes fixed on the children chasing one another across the terraces. “They put too much faith in me.”

Dex’s presence was a solid, steady warmth beside me, his golden eyes reflecting the firelight as he watched me. He didn’t speak right away, and when he did, his voice carried the weight of unspoken truths. “The prophecy is important to our people,”he began, his words careful. “Shamans have always been central to our survival, to the balance we keep with the earth. But that doesn’t mean the orcs can’t fight their own battles. We’ve been fighting long before you came here, and we’ll keep fighting.”

I turned to him, half of his face was hidden in shadow, but his eyes burned intensely. “The prophecy… it’s just a guide. But you—” Dex’s voice was sharp, his gaze piercing as he looked at me“—You’re real. They believe in you because you’ve given them reason to.”

I had spent so much of my life running from who I was, how could I be the one to bring balance to a world teetering on the edge? It felt impossible and it infuriated me. My anger sparked defiance—a small, stubborn flame that was tired of watching people suffer. If I couldn’t find strength in myself, I’d need to find it in the faces of those who believed.

“They don’t see what I see. They don’t see the darkness that lives inside me, waiting to take over. They see someone strong, someone who can save them, but I don’t know if I can be that person. Sometimes my magic feelings like its corrupted”

Dex took my hand, his voice was softer than I’d expected as he tried to sooth my doubts. “They don’t see the darkness because it doesn’t define you. You’ve shown them strength—not just with your magic, but with who you are. You’ve healed them, fought for them, given them hope. That’s what they believe in, Cleo. Not a prophecy.You.”

The raw conviction in his voice took my breath away, but it was the vulnerability beneath it that struck me hardest. I saw a flicker of fear buried deep behind the protective walls he built around himself. He was terrified of losing this fight, of watching me be consumed by the same darkness that had taken so much from his people. It wasn’t just the prophecy that haunted him—it was me.

“You’re scared too,” I said softly, my fingers tightening around his. It wasn’t a question, and the slight flicker in his gaze told me I was right.

He pressed his lips into a thin line, and I thought he might deny it, but he exhaled shakily and tugged me into his side. “Of course I am. You think I don’t see the burden you’re carrying? The way it eats at you, the way it makes you doubt yourself? You think I don’t feel it every time you pull away, every time you look at me?”

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