Page 132 of Cursed Evermore

But this breakdown went deeper than him. It was everything at once—every wall I'd built, every defense I'd carefully constructed, crumbling under the weight of too much pain, too much fear, too much of what I could no longer bear.

“I'm sorry.” The words came out rough and broken. “I truly thought my grandmother would—” The sentence faded, strangled by the enormity of my mistake and the gravity of everything else.

With his free hand, Wolfe swiped at my cheek, wiping away my tear. The unexpected warmth of his touch sank beneath my skin, a balm to my broken soul. “Do not waste your tears on devils like me, little mage. Not even the angels cry for us.”

“But I?—”

“It was a Ruskiel. They’re infamous for their ability to trap people. Especially those with mortal blood.” He gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “There was nothing you could have done to stop her. She wanted your soul and would have tried to take you by whatever means necessary. Pretending to be your grandmother was the best tactic to get you to go with her willingly.”

He was being understanding. I could hardly believe it.

“Stealing souls is how they preserve their immortality. When they spot one they want, it drives them to madness until they devour it,” he added. “Sadly for her, you were not hers to take.”

Because you’re mine.

The unspoken words were written in his eyes.

My pulse quickened with the reminder that I belonged to someone far more dangerous than a soul-stealing Ruskiel.

A slow smile ghosted across his lips. “How do you feel, Ziyka?”

I was relieved for the subject change but didn’t quite know how to answer the question. There was so much going on in mybody, I didn’t know what was worse. “I feel shattered, but I’m alive. How are you?”

He raised his brows but humored me with that arrogant smile of his. “Alive.”

“How are the others? Is Arielle?—”

“Everyone’s fine. You don’t have to worry about them.”

“Wolfe.” His name felt different on my tongue now. Different with whatever had changed between us. He paused, looking down at me with those fathomless eyes. “Thank you. For saving my life.”

He gave me a curt nod. “You’re welcome.”

“What did you do when you took those leeches from me?” I needed to know.

What I'd felt wasn't just magic. It was something intimate and profound, as if he'd torn something from within himself and placed it inside me. And I’d seen what the act did to him when the leeches flowed out of my body into his.

His gaze drifted to my lips, lingering as if replaying the memory, before snapping back to meet my eyes with that trademark steely stare. “I gave you what you needed to survive.” The words came out barely a whisper, but I felt the truth of them in my bones. “Can you still feel it?”

I nodded once. “It feels warm and powerful.” And like the only thing keeping me alive.

“It’ll wear off eventually.”

I wanted to ask him about his other powers—the ones that felt like death incarnate—but I stopped myself. It didn't feel like the right time, and I got the impression that nutshell explanation was all I was going to get.

The ship groaned deep, like a wounded beast. We looked out the window, watching the world beyond shed its obsidian skin. In its place, a misty gray wall emerged, scattered with speckled gradients like the space within dreams.

My heart clenched with unease, catching like a snagged thread inside my chest. Static buzzed beneath my skin and the air in my lungs felt wrong, thick, and heavy, different from what I breathed only moments ago.

I drew my gaze back to Wolfe. He was already watching me.

“What’s happening? Are we in danger again?” My breathing quickened.

“No. We’ve just breached the Veil. We’re on our way out of the mortal realm.” His gaze held mine, the weight of those simple words hitting me like a sledgehammer to the gut.

I’d already thought I was far away from home, but being on the sea was a different feeling than leaving the mortal realm. Throughout this entire time, I never considered how this part would feel.

Breeching the Veil. Leaving the mortal realm. Entering the magical realm.