Page 81 of Shadowkissed

Her breath catches as she bites her lip.

“I’m not leaving you,” I say, low and hard. “Not when you’re like this. Not when he’s circling like a fucking vulture.”

“You didn’t see what I did?—”

“I know whathemade you do.”

“I could hurt you.”

“But you won’t.”

She shakes her head violently. “Youdon’t know that.”

“I do,” I say, softer this time. “Because even when you’re burning, you still reach for me.”

That stops her. She swallows. Closes her eyes. And leans her forehead into mine.

“I don’t know how to come back from this.”

“Then don’t,” I whisper. “Let’s burn the rest down with it and control the fire and only makehimburn.”

Later that night, after I’ve gotten her inside, after she finally collapses into sleep on the couch wrapped in every blanket I can find, I step out into the center of the compound.

The rebels are gathered—ten of them now, rough and jagged andwilling.

They all look at me like they’ve been waiting for the call.

I don’t raise my voice. I just say it.

“He took her mentor. Provoked her. Pushed her to snap.”

They exchange glances. Some already know.

“He wanted her to fracture the Veil. She did.”

Mara steps forward. “So what now?”

I stare at the firepit at the center of the courtyard.

“Now?” I say. “Now we give him the war he wants.”

By the end of the night, the messages have gone out.

To every contact I’ve ever worked with. Every ally left in the ashes of PEACE. Every fae, vamp, druid, and shifter who ever gave a shit about balance or blood or what’s right.

We’re not just resisting anymore. We’refighting back.

And Liora’s not just seen as a weapon.

She’s the reason the rest of us remember what we’re fighting for.

40

LIORA

Iwake in silence. Not the kind that soothes. The kind that follows destruction.

My body aches like I ran through fire and didn’t quite make it out. The loft is quiet, filled with the low hum of protection wards, snoring rebels, and tension so thick I swear I can taste it in the back of my throat.

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