Page 60 of Claimed In Darkness
60
ZEPHIRAN
S he is holding me together, but I am falling apart.
I can feel the slow fracturing of my soul.
It’s like sand slipping through my fingers, like a fire burning itself to embers.
I have minutes. Maybe seconds. Naira knows it.
Her hands are too tight on my face, her breath too uneven, her eyes wild with panic.
"There has to be a way," she whispers.
There isn’t. We both know that.
But she isn’t letting me go.
"We have to do the ritual. I want to be your mate,” she softly declares. “Please.”
Her words slam into me like a physical force, like a blade cutting through the moment.
I blink at her.
"Naira—"
"The Dark Elf mating ritual." Her voice shakes, but her hands do not. "It binds souls. It strengthens them."
I see where she’s going.
I see what she wants.
And it terrifies me.
"You don’t know what it will do. I’m not sure if this will even help with ours."
"And I don’t care, all I want is to be with you forever. Let’s take this chance.”
Her grip tightens.
"If it ties us together, if it anchors you to me, if it stops you from fading—then we do it."
"Even if it destroys you?"
"Even if it saves you."
Her words clutches at my heart.
I can fight fate even gods but I cannot fight her.
Not when she’s looking at me like that.
So I give in.
And we do it.
She kneels before me.
A human. A thief. A woman who was never supposed to belong to a Dark Elf lord.
And I kneel before her.
A monster. A broken thing. A man who was never belonged to anyone.
We cut our palms and we lace our fingers together.
And we speak the words.
Ancient words. Forbidden words. Words of power older than time itself.
"Luthin'quor." I am yours.
"Luthin'vrae." You are mine.
It’s the ancient mating ritual of our house. The one my mother told me when I was young and everything was right with the world.
Before my father turned into the monster that he was today.
Her breath hitches as she repeats them back.
"Luthin'quor." I am yours.
"Luthin'vrae." You are mine.
The space crackles and magic shivers around us.
I feel it sink into my skin, into my blood, into the broken places inside me.
And suddenly, I’m anchored. A part of her is filling up the empty places in my soul.
I am anchored to her. To us.
To something greater than myself.
Now, I truly I understand what it means to belong.
Not because of chains.
Not because of power.
But because of love.
I take a deep, steady breath.
Something I haven’t been able to do since the moment my soul started unraveling.
The pain is gone.
The curse is still there but it’s different now.
Her eyes widen as her body tenses.
"Zephiran—" s he gasps.
And I feel it. The pain, not just hers, but also mine. The relic can’t take us both, our soul stronger when together. Our souls are united, one being but not one soul.
Ours.
The bond didn’t just save me.
It didn’t just anchor me.
It tied us together.
Completely.
She bears my curse now and I bear hers.
We share life.
We share pain.
We share fate.
There is no undoing it.
And there is no regret.
Not for me and not for her.
She is smiling.
Soft. Sweet.
Like this was always supposed to happen.
Like this is the only future she ever wanted.
And I let go.
Let go of the fear.
Let go of the guilt.
Let go of everything but her.
We kiss.
She is mine.
And I am hers.
And we are forever.