Page 65 of A Touch of Darkness

I reach for the side of the bed, my fingertips grazing the cool surface. “What did she say about it?” My voice is hoarse from the silence, abundant with the weight of it.

Dorian’s eyes flicker briefly to Sylvie. “She’s afraid, Lucian. She’s afraid of what she’s becoming. Of what she’s doing. She doesn’t understand how deep this connection runs, how far her power can reach. But I can feel it... It’s not just her lineage anymore. She’s tapping into something ageless.” He pauses, letting the degree of his words settle. “This isn’t just magic. This is fate. And I fear... I fear it might consume her if she’s not careful.”

I don’t speak immediately, letting his words sink in. I’m not sure what scares me more—the power Sylvie is awakening inside of her, or the fact that I’m tied to it. That we’re bound together in ways that defy everything I thought I understood about myself and this curse.

I watch as Sylvie stirs, her brow furrowing slightly. Her sleep is restless, even in her exhaustion. She mutters something softly, and I lean in, catching the words: “I can’t lose him. I can’t... not again.”

I feel something deep inside of me—the part of me that’s lived through centuries, the part that has seen endless suffering and loss—soften. I reach out, fingers brushing against her hair, tucking a strand behind her ear. She’s here, with me. She’s back after so many lifetimes. And for reasons I can’t explain, I’m not ready to let her go.

When her eyes finally flutter open, I find myself staring into the depth of her gaze. The same spark that was there when we first met—a flicker of something unspoken, something both fragile and dangerous—remains.

“I’m so glad to see you,” she says, a soft smile on her face.

She moves to sit on the edge of the bed, our hands still pressed together.

“I will never be able to thank you enough for what you did in there, Sylvie. You saved my life, and I am eternally indebted to you,” I tell her, searching her eyes, trying to find out if she’s okay.

I open my mouth to speak again, but before I can, her voice cuts through the silence. “I don’t know what I’m doing, Lucian,” she says, her voice strained with uncertainty. “I’ve never felt anything like this before.”

I place a hand gently on her shoulder, my touch tender but firm. “You are so much stronger than you think, Sylvie.” A tear rolls down her cheek. She’s finally giving herself permission to not be strong, and it’s captivating. “So much stronger than I gave you credit for. Wise beyond your years. And this power... this connection—it’s not something to fear. But we have to understand it. Together.”

She meets my gaze and nods as I wipe her tear away, a mix of fear and something else—something deeper, more dangerous.

But it’s not the power I’m afraid of.

It’s the cost of it.

It’s been two days since we escaped the Solstice Society’s clutches.

Two days since I’ve heard from Lara, and I’m starting to worry. I’ve called out to her, begged for some kind of response, but nothing comes. Part of me clings to the hope that maybe she needs rest. Maybe she’s healing, wherever she is.

Another part of me worries that I’ve pissed them off enough to hurt her for real this time. To take her out of that state of suspension and?—

I can’t allow myself to go there.

Two days.

Two days of sleep—if you could even call it that. I’ve drifted in and out of consciousness, my mind trapped in an endless storm of memories and feelings I can’t control. I haven’t seen much of Lucian, only the staff he’s sent to check on me, including a doctor. He’s clearly giving me space to rest and recuperate, but the silence has been deafening. He won’t allow me to go back tothe dorm, not that I want to anyways, but he says he has wards up to protect his home and I’m the safest here out of anywhere else.

And I believe him.

The bedroom he’s offered me is impossibly vast, like everything else in this castle-like house. The high ceiling looms over me, threatening to swallow me whole. The bed beneath me, too large and too soft, feels more like a cage than a sanctuary. Shadows flicker along the walls, cast by the fire crackling in the hearth. I pull my knees to my chest, hugging them tightly, trying to ground myself. But the memories won’t let me rest.

Lara’s voice in my mind. The dark chamber beneath the Solstice Society’s clutches. Isabel’s cryptic warnings.

And Lucian.

Always Lucian.

From the moment I saw him.

Our last kiss plays on a loop inside my head. I can’t make sense of it. Of him. Of us. I was trying to ignore those feelings swirling inside of me—feelings for him, both good and bad—but after our kiss in the classroom and then the desperate need to save him the other night…it shows me how much I care. How I can’t run from him.

How I don’t want to.

A soft knock startles me, jolts me from my thoughts, sharp and sudden. Before I can answer, the door creaks open, and he steps inside.

Lucian.

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