Page 92 of Shadowkissed

No glamour. No filters. No masks.

This is who I am.

Fae. Celestial. Starborn and cursed andawakened.

Seraphiel raises his arms like he can embrace the moment.

But I don’t give him the chance.

The first blast of my magic knocks him twenty feet back.

He crashes through a tree that bursts into flame on impact. The scream that follows is not pain—it’secstasy.

“YES,” he roars. “That’s what I want—show me, little star, show me what you truly are!”

I do.

The battle explodes.

Magic collides. The sky cracks. Light and darkness crash into each other in a violent, celestial storm.

He throws knives of memory and illusion—I burn them away with truth.

He tries to bind me with shadow—I unmake the shadows.

He tries to pull me toward him again, whispering promises I once feared.

And I laugh in his face.

“You don’t control me,” I say through gritted teeth. “Not anymore.”

His smile falters.

Just for a second.

And then I strike.

My magic slams into him, full force—light and shadow combined, chaotic, wild,mine.It knocks him back into the rift, cracking the air behind him. The Veil groans like it’s tearing.

I drop to the ground, landing hard. My knees hit the dirt. My breath heaves.

Across the field, Dante is running toward me—covered in ash and blood, but alive.

His arms wrap around me before I can speak. I fold into him like gravity, like this is the only place I’ll ever belong.

“Holy shit,” I whisper, voice shaking.

“You did it,” he says.

“Not yet,” I say into his neck.

But Iwill.

Because now I know what I am.

And I finally know what I’mfighting for.

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