Page 30 of The Demon's Sinful Serenade
Her eyes flew open, and for a moment, just a moment, I sawherlooking back at me.
"He's too strong!" River cried, slapping away a tendril slithering for her throat. "He's trying to get back in!"
The shadowy mass surged and piled higher and higher. Light disappeared under the dome of midnight, and darkness pressed down on us with suffocating weight.
"You can't have her," I snarled.
Fire erupted from my hands, creating a ring of fire against the shadows. Ifrit magic burned through my veins like molten metal, in answer to my rage, my fear, my desperation. Flames shot higher, burned brighter, color shifting from orange to blue-white. Every muscle in my body screamed as I channeled more power than I knew I had, blowing past limits I'd always been careful about.
But it wasn't enough. Julian's shadow self was too strong, too determined.
Your flames will burn brightest in the shadow of death.
The Prague witch's words hammered through my skull with each pounding beat of my pulse. This was what she'd seen. Not my death or River's, but this moment of shadows threatening to consume my mate, death hovering on the threshold.
I dug deeper, past what was safe, past what was sane. The heat was excruciating, burning me from the inside out, but I didn't stop. I couldn't stop. Not with River's life at stake.
The shadows screamed, a sound like a thousand souls in torment, but I wasn't giving an inch. Where flames met shadow, the darkness hissed and recoiled. They curled into themselves, writhing as if in agony, and the smoky scent of rot grew stronger.
I drove the flames higher and hotter, forcing them against the dome like a second skin. River gasped as the shadow tendrils released her, retracting into a single writhing mass above our heads. The compressed ball of darkness twisted and contorted, shrinking smaller and smaller as my flames crushed it from all directions.
With one final surge of power, the shadow ignited from within. A blinding flash of light, a shriek that rattled the shed's metal walls, and then... nothing.
The flames died away, leaving the three of us in the suddenly dim shed. River knelt on the concrete floor, her blue curls wild around her pale face, her chest heaving with each desperate breath.
"River?" I reached for her cautiously. I needed to feel her, to confirm she was real. That she wasn't some illusion, or still played host to that dead fucker.
Clear green met my gaze. Her eyes. Hers, and hers alone.
River launched herself into my arms, her body trembling from head to foot. "He's gone," she gasped against my chest. "I can feel it. He's actually gone."
I wrapped my arms around her, and buried my face in her hair. Each inhale of rain and citrus soothed the rawest parts of my soul. She was alive. She was here. She was mine.
Poppy stepped closer, the bound bracelet still glowing faintly in her hand. River turned and drew her into a fierce hug.
"I'm so, so sorry," she choked out. "I couldn't stop him. I tried but?—"
"Shhh." Poppy pulled back, holding River at arm's length as she searched her friend's face. "It wasn't you. I know it wasn't you."
They clung to each other, tears streaming down both their faces. I sat back on my heels, the adrenaline crash leaving me hollow and shaking. Every muscle in my body ached from the magical exertion, but the pain was a small price for the overwhelming relief of seeing River free.
Through the open shed door, I could see festival attendees moving about in complete oblivion to the battle that had just occurred. Music thumped in the distance. The world had continued spinning while ours had nearly ended.
It was over. Julian was gone—hopefully for good, this time—and River was safe. My mate was safe.
The thought froze me in place. She knew now. I'd declared it in front of Julian, in front of her. There was no taking it back, no pretending it wasn't real.
River looked up from Poppy's embrace, her eyes finding mine across the small space. The look in them wasn't disgust or horror, as Julian had claimed. It was something else entirely, something that made my heart stutter in my chest.
Recognition.
CHAPTER NINE
RIVER
The silence after our showers felt wrong after the utter insanity of flames and shadows.
It hung thick in the cottage, broken only by the sound of Zane moving around the kitchen, opening cabinets and running water. I'd insisted we both shower before doing anything else, desperate to wash away Julian's lingering presence. I'd scrubbed my skin raw under scalding water, trying to remove any trace of him, any residue of darkness that might have seeped into my pores.
