Flirting with the dark, p.36
Flirting With the Dark, page 36
Elias kissed her temple—soft, grounding.
“Let us in.”
Rowan gasped.
“W-what?”
Kael’s voice was steady, but raw.
“Your core is opening. If you lock it down, it will tear you apart. But if you let us share it—”
Elias finished:
“—we carry the weight with you.”
Rowan shook her head violently.
“No— you’ll get hurt—”
“Rowan.”
Elias tipped her chin up.
“We’re already bound. If you break, we break.”
Kael’s hand slid up her arm, steady as stone.
“And if you rise, we rise with you.”
Rowan’s breath trembled.
Her core pulsed again—
a violent surge of power that made the entire ruin shudder.
The opposite’s influence was fading,
but the damage was done—
the transformation had begun to stir.
Elias held Rowan’s face, eyes fierce.
“We’re here. Choose us.”
Kael placed his palm over Rowan’s chest.
“Let the bond carry this.”
Rowan shut her eyes.
She wasn’t ready.
She never would be.
But she wasn’t alone.
She inhaled sharply.
“Okay,” she whispered.
“I choose you. Both of you.”
The bond flared.
Light tore through her body—
surging outward like a tidal wave of pure convergence.
Rowan screamed—
Elias holding her tight,
Kael bracing her from behind,
power ripping through all three of them
and not breaking them
but fusing them tighter.
Shadow wrapped gold.
Gold fused with seam-light.
All three magics braided into something whole.
Rowan felt herself expand—
not losing herself,
but finding herself.
Finding where the seam ended
and where she began.
Finding the line between destiny
and choice.
Finding balance.
And then—
just as suddenly—
the surge quieted.
Rowan collapsed forward into Elias’s arms, sobbing.
Kael caught her waist, lowering them gently to the cold stone floor.
The ruins fell silent.
The air stilled.
Rowan’s glow dimmed to a soft pulse—
steady, warm, entirely hers.
Elias brushed trembling fingers along her jaw.
“You’re okay,” he murmured.
Kael’s voice was low with awe.
“You stabilized.”
Rowan nodded weakly.
“I’m not becoming the seam.”
Kael exhaled in relief.
“No. You’re becoming yourself.”
Elias kissed her forehead.
“And she doesn’t get to take that from you.”
Rowan leaned into both of them, exhausted, overwhelmed—
but whole.
For a long moment, none of them spoke.
The ruins hummed softly around them—
not hungry,
not demanding,
but acknowledging.
Accepting Rowan’s choice.
Kael rose first, offering Rowan his hand.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said quietly.
Elias stood beside him.
Rowan took their hands, letting them pull her to her feet.
Her legs shook—
but she stood.
“We’re not done,” Rowan whispered.
Elias nodded.
“No. But we’re not losing.”
Kael glanced back toward the deeper passageway.
“And your opposite now knows you won’t break.”
Rowan lifted her chin.
“She’ll come again.”
Elias smirked darkly.
“And we’ll be waiting.”
Kael squeezed Rowan’s hand.
“Together.”
Rowan looked at them—
her anchor,
her balance,
her bond.
Her Triad.
A faint smile touched her lips.
“For the convergence,” she whispered.
“For us.”
And the three of them stepped back toward the world—
stronger,
bound,
unchosen and yet fully chosen,
their fates intertwined.
Behind them, the ruins shifted.
Ahead of them, the opposite waited.
But Rowan didn’t tremble.
She walked forward.
For the first time—
not as the seam’s vessel,
not as a destiny forged before birth,
not as something built for power—
but as the balance born of choice.
And Elias and Kael walked at her sides.
Unbreakable.
Nichole Brown, Flirting With the Dark
