Page 94 of Shadowkissed

He finally looks at me, and the fury that flashes in his golden eyes nearly flattens me.

“You would give your life for her?” he asks, voice low and cold and almost curious.

“I already did,” I snap. “Every damn day since I met her.”

Then Idrop the blade.Raise my arms. And offer it.

“My life. Take it. Let her go.”

Liora screams, “Dante, NO!”

But I don’t look at her. Ican’t.Because I know this is the only way.

Love is the one thing Seraphiel can’t manipulate. The one thing he doesn’tunderstand.So I give it freely. Every fractured, bloody, terrified piece of it.

For her.

Something shifts.Like the worldtilts.

Seraphiel reels back—just an inch. Confused. Eyes narrowing as if he felt it too.

And Liora gasps, her hands fly up. The magic inside hersurges.Not because of rage. Because ofme.Because love is the key. And I see it happen.

The spell snaps. Blood-magicbreaks.And Seraphielstaggers.

“NO—” he growls, the sound pure fury, wings flaring, power bleeding from his palms like venom.

I rush forward, pushing through the final wave of pain that crashes into me like a freight train.

Every nerve screams. My knees buckle. But I get to her.

Ireachher.

And then the worldgoes black.

46

LIORA

Ifeel him fall before I even see it.

One moment, he’s pushing through the agony, fighting to reach me—his voice, his soul, tearing through the grip Seraphiel had on me like it was paper.

The next—he crumples.

“Dante!” My scream rips from my chest as I catch him before he hits the ground. His weight folds into me like a final exhale, his skin too cold, his breathing shallow and ragged. “No, no, no—please.”

I press my hands to his chest, magic already sparking between my fingers—too wild, too much,but I don’t care.

“Stay with me,” I whisper, my voice cracking. “You stupid, infuriating, loyalbastard, you can’t die. You said you wouldn’t.”

He doesn’t respond.

But he’s still breathing. Barely.

Behind us, Seraphiel growls, the sound something less than human, more than monster.

“You broke my bond,” he spits, voice laced with fury and disbelief. “Hebroke it.”

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