Page 39 of Shadowkissed

Dante steps closer. I retreat. A dance we keep doing, but neither of us wants to finish it.

“You don’t understand what Seraphiel is,” I whisper.

“Then tell me.”

“He doesn't just kill. Heconsumes.He breaks things in a way they don't come back right. Herewritesthem.”

He doesn’t flinch. Of course he doesn’t.

“You think I care about some underworld god’s temper tantrum?”

“I think you should,” I hiss. “You’re not invincible, Dante.”

“And you’re not a damn time bomb.”

“Iam!” I shout, and the shadows leap up around me like startled birds. My magic flares out in a violent pulse—runes along my arms lighting up like warning signs. “You don’t know what I’m capable of when I lose control. Idestroyedpeople. Innocents. In New Orleans?—”

His hand shoots out. Wraps around my wrist. Not tight. Not cruel. Grounding.

“I know.”

That stops me. Because the way he says is not judgment. It’srecognition.

My heart is racing. I want to pull away. Scream. Vanish. But he doesn’t let go. And his grip doesn’t hurt. Itanchors.

“You think I can’t handle this?” he asks. “You think your worst is gonna send me running?”

“I don’t want you to die for me,” I whisper.

“I’d rather die beside you than live without you.”

My knees almost give out.

“We don’t even know each other!”

“Then let me get to know you because I’m already in this and so are you,” he growls. “You know as well as I that whatever is going on inside of us is more than attraction, it’s something we can’t escape. Hell, something I don’t want to.”

He pulls me closer. My chest against his. My forehead resting against his collarbone. The steady thud of his heartbeat under my cheek.

“Gods, Dante...” I breathe. “This isn’t fair.” Because I know he’s right.

“Never said it was.” And then he kisses me. Deeper. Slower. Like he’schoosingme all over again.

My hands fist in his shirt, desperate and aching. I shouldn’t want this. I shouldn’t take this. But I do. Because when his lips touch mine, it’s the first time in days the world stops trying to cave in.

For a moment, I feelwhole.And that’s the problem.

I break the kiss and shove him back, breath ragged.

“This can’t happen,” I snap. “You don’t know what’s coming.”

“So tell me.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because if I tell you, you’lltryto stop it. And you’ll get yourself killed for sure and I can’t live with that.”

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