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Needy, gloriously titillating.

And wholly undeniable.

I felt my Light complete the healing process, flushing out the poison in its entirety.

I removed my hand from the now sealed wound and lifted my fingers to beneath her chin, guiding her heavy-lidded gaze to mine.

She stared at me, still panting, still clutching my shoulders, and I felt her hold tightening, her strength returning. She certainly had some might to her. “Thank you,” she breathed.

“I had to tether you. There may be repercussions.”

“Tether me?”

“You had already begun to slip away. To spare you, I had to pull you back while you were in transition from life to death.”

“That’s… I don’t know what to do with that.” She beamed up at me and clasped my wrist that was still holding her chin for some reason.

I should have let go once I’d had her rapt attention for what I needed to convey to her. But… the feel of her… the warmth… the spark that bled into me in a way I didn’t understand… it had me wanting to remain.

In this position.

Holding her.

Touching her.

Breathing in her lavender scent and feeling that frost whispering in the air between us as she spoke, an aspect of her Wraith side that was incredibly endearing.

She winced then, shifting on me, and then to my regret, she pulled away from me.

And then she was looking down at the site of her wound.

A gasp escaped her and a similar reaction betook me as I saw something branding itself on her skin.

Two jagged lines intersected, one a glimmering white—the mark of my power, and the other a vibrant amethyst tinged with black flecks—the mark of hers.

“Is this one of those repercussions?” she asked, gazing down at it, before her gaze flicked back to mine in question.

“It would appear so. The tether connects us.”

“Connects us how?”

A rush of power rolled through me.

I reached out with my senses, identifying it as belonging to several beings.

Ryker Morgan was returning, and the Guardians were amassing, moments away from swarming the Compound.

“You will be well,little shadow,”I said, easing her to her feet, before releasing her and stepping back.

I went to leave, to tend to Ariana—my mission—but her fingers brushing mine stilled me.

“At least tell meyourname,” she beseeched me. “You already have mine.”

I smiled. “Cassius.”

In the next moment, I rose up into the air.

As I did, I caught sight of a familiar figure hidden by some brush, close to where I had been moments ago healing her.