Page 24 of Too Dangerous To Die

Not because she can’t do it.

But becauseshe wants to.

And she hates that she does.

"You don’t know what I’m capable of," she says, but there’s something in her voice—something trembling at the edges.

I smirk.

"That’s the point."

Her hands clench intofists.

I can feel her pulse spike through the bond, feel the war inside her, the part of her that wasraised to heal, fighting thething she is becoming.

For a moment, I think she will refuse.

Shemoves.

The magicerupts from her like a blade unsheathed, slicing through the still air.

The ground beneath usshudders, andcracks split through the valley.

Stone crumbles.

Shattered ruins collapse in on themselves, dust spiraling into the air like the breath of a dying god.

A wave ofheat pulses outward, licking at my skin, sharp andalive.

And Nora, she is something else entirely.

Her eyes burnbrighter, her body rigid, chest heaving with the force of what she has just done. The wind howls around her, lifting strands of her hair, the air itselfbowing to her.

She doesn’t look human.

She looksdivine.

I take a step toward her.

"Do you feel it now?" I murmur.

She swallows hard, her gaze flickering to mine.

I seesomething newin her eyes.

Not just power or fear.

Hunger.

It is a terrifying thing.

And I enjoy what she’s becoming. Corruption is a beautiful thing.

11

NORA

The ruins are silent now.

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