Page 112 of The Madness Within

She crumbled. Ash and bone and nothing more.

Ash rained like snow. And the silence that followed was holy.

Later, in the car, I stared out the window.

“You okay?” Dorian asked.

“No,” I said. “But I will be. Once the next one burns, too.”

He reached over and squeezed my hand. “Welcome to the other side, Little Thief.”

“Flirt with me again, and I’ll burn your tie,” I smirked.

His voice was dark velvet. “Only if you do it while wearing it.”

And suddenly, I was grinning.

Because for once, the darkness didn’t feel so lonely.

Not with him beside me.

Chapter Fifty

??For All to Witness

Dorian

She was already mine.

By blood, by bond, by something ancient that didn't care for rings or ceremony. But that wasn’t enough.

I wanted the world to know. Wanted every demon, witch, and whispering god to hear her name and remember that she chose me, and I chose her.

So I told her.

“I want you in every way this world and the next allows,” I said, my hand trailing the curve of her throat, where my magic thrummed like a vow. “You're already mine. But I want them tohearit. Your voice. Your name. On your show. In front of every creature stupid enough to still have hope.”

Her smile was slow and sinful. “Broadcast our wedding onDead Wrong?”

“Damn right,” I said. “Let them hear it. Let them know exactly what we are.”

Because this wasn’t just love. This was a declaration. A threat. A promise soaked in shadow and sealed in blood.

We’re not just bonded.

We’re united.

And if you come for one of us… You’ll face the fury of both.

They say weddings were for the living.

Ours was not.

Ours was for the creatures watching in silence, for the monsters licking their wounds behind gilded gates, for the ones too arrogant to fear us… yet. It was for them.

The grounds of my estate had been turned into something otherworldly. Midnight blossoms curled open beneath a cursed sky. Candles floated in defiance of gravity.

The air was thick with power… Ours. Vows written in blood danced in invisible script across the sky, pulsing with old magic.

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