Page 139 of Daughter of the Serpent

She hesitated.

And he waited, his gaze never wavering, burning a hole straight through her.

She looked at him - the warrior who had broken the rules for her, fought for her, trained her against all odds. The man who had seen her, truly seen her, when no one else dared. The man who believed in her. Who believed in what she could become.

And now - he was offering her more. A piece of himself. A bond forged not by duty, but by choice.

Her heart slammed against her ribs, a frantic, unsteady rhythm. She wanted to say yes.Gods, she wanted to.

But she was still afraid.

Everything inside her screamed to hold on - to resist - to keep her walls firmly in place. To stay in the safety of whatwas known.

What he was about to show her, she didn’t know - but in the pit of her stomach she knew - it would change something between them forever.

Slowly, she nodded.

With her permission he took her hand and pressed it to his chest.

The moment their skin met, her world shattered.

The glen dissolved.

The water. The night. The stars.

Gone.

She plummeted into something else entirely - a vision, a storm of memories and emotions crashing through her mind, consuming her whole.

And then -

She saw.

Him.

His energy, his essence.

A searing fire ignited within her body, wild and untamed it ripped through her, clawing its way up her chest as if some primal beast fought for release. Her body trembled under its intensity, her breath coming in short, ragged bursts. It wasn’t just heat - it was raw, unrelenting anger, anguish. She felt fractured, as though a vital part of her had been torn away, leaving her hollow and gasping for something she couldn’t name. Grief swallowed her, dark and suffocating, threatening to consume what little of herself had left. Tears, mountains of tears that hadn’t been freed seemed to ripple under her skin, pressing outward, aching to be released. The weight of sorrow wasn’t hers; it throbbed in tandem with a deeper pain -hispain.

Her vision shifted, and then she saw it - a faint, smoldering ember, struggling against the darkness. His soul. Once a raging inferno, now dulled and diminished, its warmth barely reaching beyond the fragile flickers of light it emitted. The fire she had always known within him was nearly extinguished, its strength reduced to ash.

She stepped forward, compelled by an invisible force, her handtrembling as it stretched toward the ember. The air between them shimmered, heavy and weighted as if she knew something about this moment would change something forever. When her fingers brushed the fragile light, it flared - sudden and fierce. The ember pulsed, sparks shooting outward like stars, and in an instant, the flames surged.

They roared to life, vivid and untamed, enwrapping her in their heat. The fire didn’t burn; it consumed, filling the empty spaces within her, burning away the grief with something brighter. The light expanded, gold and overwhelming, consuming him, consuming her, until they were lost in its brilliance. In its heart, she saw her own face, bathed in the radiant glow, her features soft and pure. As the fire rose higher, she stood in its center, reborn.

The sorrow had not vanished, but it had transformed, reforged into something more powerful.

Hope. Closure. Completeness.

As she saw herself in his eyes - shefelt- how he had changed. How she had somehow revived him, given him back the light, the flame, he had long thought extinguished.

A voice snaked around her awareness, heating every place it touched.

“You are the light Sylvie. My light, in the darkness.”

His lips met hers, and with eyes still closed she unfurled, surrendering to the fire completely.

Kissing Axel was like embracing the sun. His warmth enveloped her, seeping into every curve and hollow. He flooded her memories, her past, her present, her future - his energy claiming every part of her existence and more. His fingers traced her skin as if touching stars and moonlight, connecting the dust and daydreams of her being with an endless longing. His lips curved to her own, melding them as oneentity, their energies conjoined in glittering gold. With every wave of emotion, an explosion of energy unfurled from their joining, echoing down their shared bond in rapturous intensity. Her heart bled, pouring out the pain, the sorrow, the hurt until only he remained. There was nothing left, but the swirling power of his kiss, his touch. Somehow, with each caress of his lips, each touch of his tongue, the poison that had corrupted her insides was drawn, breaking the shackles and chains that had held her a slave, to break free. His energy was the healing balm that healed everywhere it went - dipping into every bend and curve of her being and filling it with light, fire, and flame.