Page 33

SYLVIE

T he relic hovered before them, spinning with malevolent energy as Nicholas stood half-transformed, his body a beautiful amalgamation of man and beast. The golden bond between them pulsed with each heartbeat, stronger now than ever before.

Sylvie reached for that connection, letting it flood her senses. Her fingertips tingled with untapped magic as she stepped out from behind Nicholas's protective stance to stand beside him.

"Together," she said, twining her fingers with his clawed ones. "That's how we beat this thing."

Nicholas's amber eyes flashed, vertical pupils narrowing as he nodded. "What do you need me to do?"

The relic screeched, sending another wave of dark energy crashing toward them. Sylvie ducked, pulling Nicholas with her. The attack sailed overhead, scorching the ancient oak behind them.

"I need fire," she said, breath coming fast. "My candles. I didn't bring?—"

Nicholas reached into his torn pocket, producing a small tin. "Never leave home without one." He flipped it open to reveal a book of matches.

A laugh bubbled up from Sylvie's chest, incongruous with their dire situation. "Of course you'd have matches. Don't tell me—you keep them for romantic emergencies?"

His mouth quirked into that familiar half-smile, even as his tiger features rippled beneath his skin. "You know me well, Sage."

The relic spun faster, sensing their momentary distraction. Black tendrils shot toward them, aiming for their intertwined hands.

Nicholas yanked her behind him again, swiping with his free hand. Claws extended, slicing through the dark energy. It dissipated like smoke, but not before leaving angry welts across his forearm.

"Your magic responds to emotion," Nicholas said, voice strained. "Use that. Use us."

Sylvie's mind raced. Every candle she'd ever crafted required wax, wick, herbs—but those were just conduits. The true magic had always been inside her, channeled through intention and emotion.

"I need you to hold it still," she said, striking a match. The tiny flame flickered, casting golden light across Nicholas's transformed features. "Just for a moment."

He squeezed her hand once before releasing it, dropping into a predatory crouch. "One shifter restraint, coming up."

Nicholas lunged, faster than Sylvie had ever seen him move. His partially transformed body was powerful, graceful in its hybrid state. He circled the relic, clawed hands swiping at the tendrils that reached for him. The darkness hissed where his claws made contact, recoiling but always reforming.

"Anytime now," he called, narrowly avoiding another attack.

Sylvie cupped the tiny matchstick flame in her palms, feeling it respond to the wild beating of her heart. To the fear for Nicholas. To the love that had grown between them, not because of the bond, but in spite of it. Choice, not compulsion.

"Fire of will and flame of heart," she chanted, letting the words form naturally. "Reveal the truth and tear apart the shadow's hold, the ancient lie."

The matchstick flame grew, expanding beyond natural limits until she held a ball of fire between her palms. It burned silver-gold, just like the candle of clarity she'd crafted days ago. The one that had shown her what her heart already knew.

"Nicholas!" she called.

He spun toward her voice, dodging another tendril. His eyes widened at the sight of the fireball between her hands.

"Pin it down!"

With a roar that was more tiger than man, Nicholas leapt directly at the relic. His claws sank into the rippling darkness surrounding it, somehow finding purchase in the intangible shadows. The relic screamed, its spinning faltering as Nicholas wrestled it toward the ground.

Sylvie advanced, the fireball growing with each step. The bond stretched, vibrating with intensity. She could feel Nicholas's strength flowing into her, bolstering her magic like nothing she'd ever experienced.

"Magic forced is magic false," she continued, the words rising from some ancient place within her. "What's freely given cannot break."

Nicholas struggled against the thrashing darkness, his muscles straining as he forced the relic down toward the forest floor. His shirt hung in tatters around him, revealing the beautiful transition of sun-kissed skin to striped fur along his spine.

"Now, Sylvie!" he growled, pinning the relic with one powerful hand while the other slashed at tendrils trying to encircle his throat.

She thrust her hands forward, releasing the silver-gold flame. It engulfed the relic instantly, burning away the darkness like morning mist. The relic's obsidian surface cracked under the onslaught of pure intention, fissures spreading across its ancient face.

"By my will and by my choice," Sylvie shouted above the relic's dying scream. "By our bond that stands unforced!"

Nicholas's clawed hand reached through the flames, completely unburned, to close around the fracturing relic. With one powerful squeeze, he crushed it in his grip. The relic shattered, crumbling into ash that scattered in a sudden breeze.

Silence fell over Echo Woods. The unnatural shadows retreated, leaving only dappled moonlight filtering through the canopy above.

Nicholas straightened, his breathing ragged as his features slowly shifted back toward human. The tiger receded beneath his skin, but his eyes still glowed with amber fire.

"Is it—" Sylvie began.

"Gone." Nicholas opened his palm, revealing only a smudge of black dust. He wiped it away on what remained of his jeans. "You did it."

"We did it," she corrected, stepping closer to him. The golden remnants of the binding spell pulsed, but differently now, Not with the frantic energy of the spell, but with something deeper. Something chosen.

Nicholas reached for her hand, his now free of claws. "The bond—" he started, uncertainty flickering across his face. "Is it broken?"

Sylvie closed her eyes, sensing the connection between them. It had changed, transformed like Nicholas himself had moments ago. But it wasn't gone.

"No," she said, opening her eyes to meet his worried gaze. "It's still there. But it's different now."

"Different how?"

She placed her hand over his heart, feeling its steady rhythm beneath her palm. "Before, it was something that happened to us. Now it's something we chose."

Nicholas covered her hand with his own, a slow smile spreading across his face. "So we're still stuck with each other?"

"Seems that way," Sylvie replied, unable to stop her own smile. "Think you can handle that?"

Instead of answering, Nicholas pulled her against him, one arm wrapping around her waist. His forehead pressed against hers, their breaths mingling in the cool night air.

"Try and stop me," he whispered, before his lips claimed hers in a kiss that tasted of freedom and choice and a future neither of them had dared imagine.