Page 202 of The Legacy of Ophelia
“His magic would work much faster on you than on anyone. You may even adopt some of the properties over time.”
“I would absorb his magic?” I would no longer be human. Not just a Bounty with an instinct to hunt fae, but I would truly have power.
And I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
“She’s uncertain,” Lancaster argued, reading those emotions straight through our open bond. “We are not doing it.”
“It will also link your lives,” Mora added. “Your lifespan, your magic, your bargains. All would be tethered.”
“It would chain you to a fate you never wanted or chose,” Lancaster added, and it was clear in the tightness of his voice that he was replaying all of my rejections from earlier.
“It would save her life,” Mora challenged.
The siblings continued to bicker, but the pain in my side shifted beyond fire. It was icy numbness. My entire body was. The air no longer felt warm or cool, it just brushed against my skin. I was slipping away.
And the humming string in my chest was growing quieter, a dim melody that hadn’t even gotten its chance to flourish.
I should have been upset that this claiming had been set in motion without my knowing—that I had confirmed it unintentionally, without all the facts. But isn’t that what made it so worthy? That I’d saved Lancaster out of pure desire to—out of my own form of claiming—without knowing about the Goddess’s magic?
In that act alone, I’d given myself the only answer I truly needed, right as death reached for me.
These weeks, I’d been growing closer to Lancaster, though I denied it. And right when I finally gave in, it was being taken? From both of us?
And Lancaster…he had suffered so much pain in his long life. From the loss of his mother to being at the queen’s beck and call. I wouldn’t take another thing from him if I had a choice.
A choice that really was no choice at all but a gift of fate.
Maybe I would have to sacrifice some small pieces of my human self in order to claim and be claimed by this fae. It would not take my heart, nor would it take my strength or my kindness. It wouldn’t change who I was down to my soul.
“I want it,” I choked out.
Lancaster’s attention snapped down to me. “Bounty?—”
“No,” I wheezed. “You are not forcing this on me. I choose it. I choose to live with you. Iclaimyou, Hunter. For as long as the Goddess blesses us.”
Which I prayed would be years beyond this night.
His eyes flicked between mine, a lock of thick brown hair falling into them, and I forced myself to hang on to reality, to not let my eyes slip closed again despite the darkness pulling at me. To not let myself shiver at the roars of battle pounding among the city or the mist pressing through the alleys.
“You’re certain?” Lancaster asked after a long minute.
I nodded, grimacing.
His eyes narrowed shrewdly. “You fought it earlier.”
“I lied,” I wheezed, and despite the state of my voice, healmostsmiled at my confession. “What do I do?”
“You have to drink my blood,” Lancaster stated baldly, as if he was hoping that would change my mind about giving up this piece of myself to him.
It did make the pain in my side disappear for a moment. “What?”
“Many fae customs and magical rituals are derived from our ancestors who thrived on blood,” Mora chirped. “It is why our magic is tied so deeply to the life source.”
“Okay,” I said, truly not caring how inhumane the custom would have sounded at another time. I wanted to claim Lancaster, and if this was how it must be done, I would do it.
Something pinched in my chest, and I realized it was Lancaster’s internal war with this decision. My limbs were heavy, but I stretched up, brushing the back of my fingers across his cheek.
“I claim you, Hunter,” I repeated.
