Page 84 of The Devil's Canvas

It was him.

It was them.

And Julian... he’s not blameless. But he didn’t lie. He didn’t run from the truth. He looked me in the eye and gave it to me straight, even when he knew I’d hate him for it.

And I did. For a moment, I wanted to. I wanted to scream that he was just another monster trying to own me.

But I saw his face. He didn’t know I was the one. He didn’t expect this either.

And now... now he’s offering something no one ever has.

Choice.

He could’ve claimed me. Could’ve used the bond, the rules, the loopholes. But he didn’t. He gave it back to me—my agency. My soul. My say.

And somehow, that means more than anything I’ve ever been given.

I don’t know who I am now—with the Loom of Fate coiled in my blood and a legacy I never asked for hanging heavy on my shoulders.

But I know if I give myself to Julian, it won’t be because I was stolen. It won’t be because I was tricked or bound or broken.

For the first time, Iwantsomething.

And it’s something I’m willing to do anything to take.

“I want to do it,” I say, barely audible.

Julian’s eyes flick to mine. “Do what?”

“I want to claim you,” I say, the words steady and deliberate, as if I’ve always known them—and only now found the strength to speak them.

Julian doesn’t move, but something shifts in his expression—subtle, stunned, like the ground beneath him has tilted.

I step closer. My voice softens, but I don’t hesitate. “I need your soul. Your love. The fire and fury you try to hide.”

He doesn’t speak. His silence feels like gravity, heavy and expectant.

I reach for his hand and guide it to rest over my heart. “I’m ready to give you everything,” I say. “Not because of the mark. Not because fate demands it. But because you are the only thing in this world that has ever felt real.”

I look up at him, my words weaving between us like a vow.

“I love you,” I whisper. “Not in spite of who you are—but because of it. Because even when everything else was taken from me,yousaw me. And now, I want to be yours. Completely. Willingly. Because I knowexactlywhat it means.”

Julian doesn’t speak at first. He just watches me, eyes unreadable, hand still over my heart.

Finally, his voice breaks the silence. “You already are,” he says. “You always were.”

Chapter Fifteen

Julian

Shespokeit.Shetold me she claims me.

I never thought it would happen. Not in my wildest dreams. When my Mark burned into her skin and flared back onto mine, I figured it was inevitable.

But I wasn’t expecting this.

Wasn’t expecting to fall. Wasn’t expectingherto become everything.

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