Page 45 of Claws for Celebration
Understanding dawned in Moira's expression, followed immediately by pain that made his panther whine with distress. "You're talking about ending our relationship."
"I'm talking about saving the world," he replied, forcing his voice to remain steady despite the way his heart was breaking. "Moira, if we're wrong, if there's any chance that our connection is what pushes your power over the threshold needed to free this evil, then staying together becomes the most selfish thing either of us could do."
"There has to be another way," she said desperately. "Some method of controlling my power that doesn't require sacrificing everything we've found together."
"Maybe. But we don't have time to find it." Lucien stood from his chair, already feeling the mate bond stretch painfully as he prepared to do the hardest thing he'd ever attempted. "Eleven days, Moira. If we're wrong about this, if continuing our relationship accidentally triggers the apocalypse, how many people die because we chose love over duty?"
"And if we're wrong about separating? If breaking our bond destabilizes my magic in ways that make the situation worse rather than better?"
"Then at least we'll know we tried everything possible to prevent catastrophe."
The logic was sound, even if it felt like tearing his soul in half. But as Lucien looked around the bookstore that had become their sanctuary, at the woman who'd become his entire world in the space of two weeks, at the evidence of magical manipulation that had been guiding them toward disaster from the very beginning, he knew there was no choice that wouldn't involve devastating sacrifice.
"I can't do this," Moira said, tears gathering in her eyes. "I can't lose you. Not when I've just figured out who I'm supposed to be."
"You're supposed to be the woman strong enough to save the world," Lucien replied gently, though every word felt like bleeding. "Even if saving it means giving up everything you want most."
"What if you're wrong? What if the mate bond isn't accelerating my magical development but actually helping me control it?"
"Then we'll have made a terrible mistake that we'll both have to live with forever. But if the grimoire is pushing us tobe together andthisis its true agenda? Then it’s a safer bet for us to not encourage the bond." Lucien moved toward the bookstore's front door, knowing that if he hesitated any longer, he'd lose the strength necessary to leave her. "But if I'm right, if our connection is what tips your power over the edge into apocalyptic territory, then this is the only choice that doesn't make us responsible for the end of human civilization."
"Lucien, please," Moira called after him, her voice breaking with desperation that made his panther claw frantically at his control. "Don't do this. Don't leave me to face this alone."
"You won't be alone," he said without turning around, afraid that seeing her face would shatter his resolve completely. "The Council will protect you. The other witches will continue your training at a safer pace. And I'll be close enough to help if the vampires or shadow creatures make another move."
"But you won't be with me."
"No," he admitted, his hand on the door handle as he prepared to walk away from the only woman he'd ever love. "I won't be with you. Because sometimes loving someone means choosing their survival over your own happiness."
As Lucien stepped into the Hollow Oak night, leaving behind the woman who carried his heart and possibly the fate of the world, he tried to tell himself that he was making the right choice.
But the sound of Moira's quiet sob following him into the darkness suggested that right and wrong had become meaningless concepts in the face of impossible decisions and the crushing weight of consequences that could destroy everything they'd both come to cherish.
His panther howled silently at the forced separation from their mate, but Lucien ignored the animal's distress as he disappeared into the shadows that had always been his refuge.
Some sacrifices were too important to avoid, even when they felt like dying.
26
MOIRA
The silence after Lucien's departure felt like a physical wound, raw and bleeding in the center of her chest. Moira sat alone in the bookstore, surrounded by the protective barriers that now felt more like a prison than a sanctuary, staring at the Shadowheart Codex that had just revealed itself as her enemy rather than her guide.
"Eleven days," she whispered to the empty room, her voice echoing off shelves that had witnessed the most beautiful moments of her magical awakening. "Eleven days until I accidentally destroy the world."
She understood Lucien’s logic. If the grimoire had been manipulating their mate bond to accelerate her magical development, then separating made tactical sense. But understanding didn't make the abandonment hurt any less, especially when she needed his steady presence more than ever.
As emotional turmoil crashed through her, Moira felt her magic respond with chaotic surges that made the bookstore's lights flicker and the protective barriers pulse erratically. Without Lucien's stabilizing influence, the power that had feltso natural and controlled now writhed through her veins like something alive and angry.
"Get it together," she told herself firmly, trying to center her breathing the way Cordelia had taught her. "Emotional stability equals magical stability. You can do this."
But even as she attempted the grounding techniques the local witches had shown her, Moira felt her magic pushing against her conscious control. The golden threads that usually danced obediently around her fingers now sparked and crackled with wild energy that seemed to have its own agenda.
The grimoire's pages rustled softly, drawing her attention back to text that continued appearing despite her efforts to ignore it.
The separation brings pain, but pain can be transformed into power. The bloodline magic grows stronger when channeled through intense emotion. Do not fight the awakening, daughter of shadows. Embrace what you were born to become.
"Stop," she said aloud, slamming the ancient tome closed. "I'm not listening to you anymore."
