Page 36 of Shadowkissed

The poison’s mostly gone. Tamsin’s salves helped that I keep stored in the loft, and I’ve got enough shifter blood left in me to patch skin and muscle. But I’m not healed. Not really. Something inside me’s still... off. Unsettled. Like the blow cracked more than bone.

And the longer I sit still, the worse it gets.

There’s a tug in my chest. Not physical—butreal. A magnetic hum under my ribs, yanking me east, toward the older districts where the Veil runs thinner. It’s her. Has to be. The bond’s tighter than ever, like a live wire threading through my goddamn veins. I know I need to rest, but I can’t stay away.

Even if it kills me.

Even if itkills her.

But I won’t let that happen. I’ll die before I let anyone lay a hand on her. I just have to find her first.

I follow the pull past the edge of the city, where the streets start breaking apart and magic leaks through the cracks like spilled paint. Old ruins, forgotten temples, pockets of unclaimed territory where PEACE doesn’t bother stepping foot.

That’s where I find her.

An abandoned garden swallowed by ivy and stone, half a greenhouse, half a myth. The wrought-iron gate creaks open like it’s been waiting for me. The air here feels different—thick with old enchantments and blooming shadow. Even the wind shivers when it moves.

And then I see her standing barefoot in the grass, arms loose at her sides, shadows trailing behind her like a second skin. Her obsidian hair falls in soft waves over her shoulders, wild and unbound, glowing faint in the fae light. The tattoos that curve over her arms and collarbone pulse faintly, alive in a way I’ve never seen before.

And her eyes—gods, those eyes—luminescent violet, focused and far away.

She doesn’t notice me right away.

I take a step forward—just one—and somethingsnapsinside me.

Pain flares in my gut, sudden and blinding. My legs give out. I drop to one knee with a grunt, hand pressed to my ribs.

“Fuck—”

The sound pulls her back.

She whirls around, eyes locking on mine like I just split the world in half.

“Dante?” she says, breath catching. “What the hell are you?—?”

I don’t have the strength to answer. My body folds again, forehead hitting dirt and moss, sweat beading down my neck.

The poison, I realize.

Whatever that bastard stuck me with—it’s not done.

“Godsdammit,” I growl through clenched teeth.

Suddenly, she’s beside me. Kneeling. Fingers on my shoulders. Her presence wraps around me like velvet and smoke.

“You’re hurt,” she says, voice trembling. “You weren’t supposed to come after me.”

“Too bad,” I grit out.

“Stubborn idiot,” she mutters. “You’re making it worse.”

She moves fast—pressing her palm to my side, right over the wound. I flinch, but her touch iscool. Calming. It spreads through me like winter wind through wildfire, silencing the pain, not with numbness—but withlight.

A soft glow spills from her hand. And I realize—this isn’t shadow. This issomething else. Something new.

She’s healing me. Not like a fae would. Like somethingmore.

Her eyes widen as the glow intensifies, threads of soft gold dancing between her fingers and my skin. Her runes shift, realign, shimmering faintly like they’re unsure of what they’re doing but following instinct anyway.

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