Page 69 of Shadowkissed

“I’m here,” I whisper, voice cracking. “I’m sorry—I had to?—”

He cuts me off, pulling me into his chest, arms closing around me like armor.

And I break. Not from pain. Fromrelief.

I sob into his shirt, the sound torn straight from my soul. My body shakes, the magic still unraveling inside me, raw and too much. My fingers clutch his sides like if I let go, the universe will come apart.

“I thought I lost you,” I cry, over and over, “I thought I lost you—I didn’t want to?—”

“I’m here,” he murmurs into my hair, voice low and rough. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you, baby.”

He presses kiss after kiss to the top of my head, my temple, the corner of my mouth.

The alarms scream around us like the world is ending. But in his arms, for one goddamn second—I feel safe. Like the eye of the storm. Still, and dangerous, and holy.

I pull back just enough to look at him.

“You remember everything?” I ask, even though I know the answer.

He nods, jaw tight. “Every second.”

I open my mouth to apologize again, but he puts a finger against my lips.

“You did what you had to do to protect me,” he says. “But Liora… never again.”

My throat tightens. “You don’t understand—Seraphiel, if he knew?—”

“I don’t give afuckwhat Seraphiel knows,” Dante snaps, eyes blazing. “He’s not taking you from me again.”

My breath hitches. “He won’t stop until?—”

“Then we stophim.”

I blink, stunned by the certainty in his voice.

He means it. Not just the fight. Theus.

I nod slowly, because there’s no other answer. Not anymore.

“I broke the runes,” I whisper. “The sigils are unstable. He’s weak right now. I made sure of it.”

Dante grins, the kind of grin that makes my knees weak even in a warzone. “You planning a prison break, Veilborn?”

“Only the reckless kind,” I say, smirking despite the tears still drying on my cheeks.

He lets out a breath that sounds too close to a laugh.

And then, boom.

The towershakes.

We both snap around toward the hallway, red light bleeding in under the door, footsteps pounding overhead.

“Shit,” he mutters. “He knows.”

My heart clenches. “Dante?—”

But he scoops up his blade, throws a hand toward the wall behind me. “There’s a breach in the Veil. I felt it when I got in. I can get us out through it.”

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