Page 95 of Wings of Shadow
“Clarissa,” I choke out, gripping her hand like a lifeline. My pride is a splintered ruin, but none of it matters. “I?—”
She silences me with a single touch, pressing her fingers lightly to my lips.
“Shh,” she whispers, shaking her head. “It’s okay. We’re okay.”
The words are meant to comfort, but I see the fracture in her gaze, the burden of everything unsaid. We are not okay. Not after this. The daemon may be gone, but its shadow lingers, a chasm between us, filled with broken trust and buried fears.
The bed dips as she shifts beside me, her hands still cradling mine, her expression turning uncertain. “After everything… I didn’t know what else to do. So I called Janik.”
I exhale slowly. Janik—trustworthy, competent Janik. Of course, she’d turn to him.
“He brought us here. Made sure we were safe,” she continues, but there’s an undertone beneath her words, something unspoken.
She doesn’t say it, but I already know—you weren’t safe before.
The shame I’ve buried for so long claws its way up my chest. My hunger for power, my arrogance, blinded me. I thought I could control Azrakan. That I could outmaneuver a creature born of darkness. Instead, I nearly damned us both.
I take a sharp breath, steadying my voice. “Clarissa… what I did—what I was willing to do—” I pause, jaw tightening. “I don’t expect you to forgive me.”
A shadow flickers across her face, but she says nothing.
My throat constricts. “But you have to know… I never meant to put you in danger.” I close my eyes, swallowing hard. “I thought I could outplay Azrakan. I thought I could have it all. My pride, my conceit—” A humorless laugh escapes me. “I was the fool. And you… you’re the only thing that truly matters.”
Tears slip down her cheeks, silent but burning.
“Oh, Kai…” she whispers, and my name on her lips nearly undoes me.
She collapses against me, and I wrap my arms around her, burying my face in her hair. She is warmth, life, salvation, and I clutch her to me as if she might disappear between my fingers.
“I love you,” she murmurs into my chest, her words fragile yet fierce. “And I would do anything for you.”
A shudder racks through me as I grasp this foreign sensation, this terrifying feeling.
Devotion.
A gift I don’t deserve.
I pull back slightly, enough to tilt her chin, forcing her to meet my gaze. “I’ll find another way,” I vow, my voice hoarse, gravelly. “I’ll win Nik’s respect without risking you, Liebes. I swear it.”
Her eyes search mine, finding the truth there. Slowly, she nods. “I know you will.”
Her faith in me is overwhelming. In that moment, it dawns on me—I will move heaven and earth to be the man she deserves.
I shift, intent on rising, but my body rebels, a fresh wave of exhaustion crashing over me. The mattress creaks as she gently presses me back down.
“Not yet,” she says, her fingers brushing against my temple, her touch tender. “Stay with me. Just a little longer.”
I exhale, surrendering to the moment.
I am Kaisner Drachenstein—warlock, kingmaker, a man who has walked through the abyss and returned.
And right now, I am simply hers.
As we cling to each other in the flickering candlelight, I know the road ahead will be far from easy. There are consequences, trust to rebuild. But with Clarissa in my arms, I’m ready to face whatever comes next. Because now, I understand what true power is, and it has nothing to do with dragons or demons.
It’s this. Us. Love.
And it’s worth fighting for.
