Page 77 of Chaos Carnival

“No sequins,” I said, already imagining the possibilities. The fear I could generate, the energy we could harvest, all while putting on one hell of a show. “A ringmaster needs to maintain some dignity.”

“No sequins,” Addie agreed, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Just a fantastic coat.” She was already sketching in her notebook. “Something that screams 'I could charm you or destroy you, and you'll thank me either way.'“

I looked around at my strange, makeshift family. A former witch turned demon-demi-goddess. A demon sorceress with questionable motives. A demon-bound goat. A human artist who took our madness in stride. And my brothers, who'd followed me into exile and now into show business. A familiar excitementsurged through me—the same one I used to get ahead of a big fight. This would be so much better.

“To controlled chaos,” Lilith raised her wine glass and we echoed her.

I just hoped we could actually control it.

Chapter 35: Dominion Shift

Tess

IledMavericktoour bedroom, my fingers intertwined with his, as subtle tremors of anxiety ran through his body. He tried to hide it, but I tracked the way his power flickered beneath his skin, responding to me in ways I’d never noticed before. Fate whispered countless versions of this moment to me. In some he ran, in others he stayed, then there were those we destroyed each other in the most exquisite ways.

But this was the version I liked best. This was the one I'd chosen.

“You're afraid,” I remarked, turning to face him as we reached the foot of our bed. The lamp cast shadows across his face, but Ididn't need light to see him. I could feel every facet of him, every desire, every fear.

His jaw tightened. “I'm not—“

“You searched for me,” I interrupted, reaching up to trace the line of his cheek. “In every dark corner, every hidden place. You tore everything in front of you apart trying to find me.” I smiled, his desperation echoing across timelines. “I saw you. Every version of you, hunting for every version of me.”

His breath caught, and his hands came up to grip my waist—possessive, protective, desperate. “You were gone, Tess. Just... gone.”

“I know.” I stepped closer, letting my magic brush his. “I saw what it did to you. What you did to Ivan's people. How you nearly killed yourself trying to reach me.”

His fingers dug into my hips. “You weren't supposed to see that.”

“I've seen everything, love.” I reached for the buttons of his shirt, undoing them one by one. “Every possibility, every choice, every version of us. And do you know what I discovered?”

He swallowed hard, his eyes dark with desire and uncertainty. “Tell me.”

“Across every world, in every time,” I whispered, pushing his shirt from his shoulders, “I find you. I reach for you. Even when I shouldn’t. Even when it unravels me.” My palm settled over his heart, its frantic rhythm beneath my touch. “Even when I know it will.”

“Tess—” His voice broke, and I felt his struggle – the relief at being understood warring with his fear of what I'd become.

“You want to protect me,” I murmured, anticipating his movement before he made it, stepping into his embrace just as his arms lifted to pull me close. “But you don't know how anymore.”

His laugh was rough, almost painful. “Is there anything you don't know now?”

I smiled against his skin. “I know you're about to kiss me. Hard. To prove you still can.”

He tensed, and I felt the spike of unease at how well I could read him. But desire won out, and his mouth claimed mine with desperation. I matched his intensity, proving I was no longer the fragile thing he needed to shelter.

The kiss deepened, and I tasted centuries of loneliness on his tongue, every moment he'd spent searching for someone who could understand him. Now I understood him better than he understood himself, and it terrified him. His hands trembled over my skin as I edged closer, letting my magic dance along his nerve endings in ways that made him gasp.

This was Maverick—my beautiful, damaged seraph who'd spent millennia believing he was meant to be alone. Who'd found me and claimed me and tried so hard to protect me, never realizing that one day I would be strong enough to protect him too.

And in every timeline, he was mine.

His kiss turned fiercer, more demanding, attempting to assert the dominance that had always come so naturally to him. I let him have this moment, even as I saw the next one coming. The instant his control would slip, when he'd realize I was letting him lead rather than following by necessity. His fingers tangled in my hair, and I knew the exact second the understanding hit him.

He broke the kiss, breathing hard, his forehead pressed to mine. “What am I to you now?” he whispered, vulnerability raw in his voice. “Now that you've seen it all?”

I caught his face between my hands, studying the features I'd memorized. “You're still my impossible man,” I murmured. “My perfect contradiction. The demon who chooses to be gentle, the protector who needs protecting, the darkness that brings melight.” I brushed my thumbs across his cheekbones. “You're still Maverick. And I'm still Tess. We're just... more.”

His laugh was shaky, but his arms tightened around me. “More,” he repeated. “That's one way to put it. You're practically a goddess now.”

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