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LIORA

I crash into him like I’ve been falling for lifetimes.

No words. No hesitation. Just lips on lips and hands tangled in each other’s skin like we’re trying to carve the truth into our bones before the walls around us catch fire.

I taste sweat. Salt. The faint, familiar musk that’s only ever him . Dante. My wolf. My Guardian.

And gods, I didn’t know how starving I was until I kissed him.

It’s violent. Messy. I don’t care.

His arms crush me to him, one hand fisting in my hair, the other locking around my waist like he’s afraid I’ll disappear again if he blinks.

I kiss him harder just to make sure I don’t.

Then I feel it— The bond. It erupts.

My magic slams into his like it’s been waiting for a crack in the wall. The glamour, the spell, the curse I cast on him—it shatters between us, burning into dust in a burst of violet light.

He gasps against my lips. Freezes. And I know he remembers everything.

His hand cups my cheek, thumb trembling as he pulls back just enough to look at me.

And the look in his eyes splits me wide open.

Like he’s seeing me for the first time again. But also like he never stopped.

“Liora,” he breathes, like it’s a confession and a prayer all at once.

I nod, barely holding myself together.

“I’m here,” I whisper, voice cracking. “I’m sorry—I had to?—”

He cuts me off, pulling me into his chest, arms closing around me like armor.

And I break. Not from pain. From relief.

I sob into his shirt, the sound torn straight from my soul. My body shakes, the magic still unraveling inside me, raw and too much. My fingers clutch his sides like if I let go, the universe will come apart.

“I thought I lost you,” I cry, over and over, “I thought I lost you—I didn’t want to?—”

“I’m here,” he murmurs into my hair, voice low and rough. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you, baby.”

He presses kiss after kiss to the top of my head, my temple, the corner of my mouth.

The alarms scream around us like the world is ending. But in his arms, for one goddamn second—I feel safe. Like the eye of the storm. Still, and dangerous, and holy.

I pull back just enough to look at him.

“You remember everything?” I ask, even though I know the answer.

He nods, jaw tight. “Every second.”

I open my mouth to apologize again, but he puts a finger against my lips.

“You did what you had to do to protect me,” he says. “But Liora… never again.”

My throat tightens. “You don’t understand—Seraphiel, if he knew?—”

“I don’t give a fuck what Seraphiel knows,” Dante snaps, eyes blazing. “He’s not taking you from me again.”

My breath hitches. “He won’t stop until?—”

“Then we stop him. ”

I blink, stunned by the certainty in his voice.

He means it. Not just the fight. The us.

I nod slowly, because there’s no other answer. Not anymore.

“I broke the runes,” I whisper. “The sigils are unstable. He’s weak right now. I made sure of it.”

Dante grins, the kind of grin that makes my knees weak even in a warzone. “You planning a prison break, Veilborn?”

“Only the reckless kind,” I say, smirking despite the tears still drying on my cheeks.

He lets out a breath that sounds too close to a laugh.

And then, boom.

The tower shakes.

We both snap around toward the hallway, red light bleeding in under the door, footsteps pounding overhead.

“Shit,” he mutters. “He knows.”

My heart clenches. “Dante?—”

But he scoops up his blade, throws a hand toward the wall behind me. “There’s a breach in the Veil. I felt it when I got in. I can get us out through it.”

I hesitate. Just for a breath. Just long enough to look at him again. And I say the one thing I’ve been afraid of since the second I kissed him.

“I love you.”

His eyes flare. And he doesn’t hesitate.

He pulls me in, kisses me so hard it knocks my breath clean from my lungs.

“I love you, too,” he growls against my mouth. “Now let’s get the fuck out of here.”