Flirting with the dark, p.8
Flirting With the Dark, page 8
Responsive.
Waiting.
“Good,” Elias whispered against her ear. “Now let me in.”
Rowan opened her eyes.
“Elias... what if I hurt you?”
He shook his head once. “You won’t.”
“You can’t know that.”
“I do.”
He stepped forward — just enough that their foreheads touched.
“Because your light has never wanted to hurt me.”
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
“Let it move toward me,” he murmured. “Just let it find mine.”
She took a breath and loosened her grip on the power inside her.
The effect was immediate.
Light flared softly beneath her skin.
Elias inhaled sharply — his shadows reaching for her like smoke drawn to flame.
Then—
Their powers met.
Rowan gasped.
Elias groaned softly under his breath.
Light and shadow collided where their hands touched — swirling together, not opposing but entwining, golden threads weaving through black, pulling them closer, deeper.
Her knees weakened — not from pain.
From connection.
Intensity.
Elias caught her by the waist with his free hand, holding her firmly.
“Easy,” he breathed. “You’re doing perfectly.”
The ground trembled again.
Kael howled beyond the boundary — furious, frustrated, sensing the merge.
Rowan felt the echo of it in her bones, but it didn’t break her focus.
Elias’s power wrapped around hers like nightfall wrapping around a rising sun — not smothering, not overpowering.
Balanced.
Whole.
Rowan gripped the front of his shirt.
“Elias... it’s—too much.”
“No,” he murmured, voice low and rough, “it’s exactly right.”
Her pulse stuttered.
“But you’re—”
“I’m fine,” he said.
But he wasn’t fine.
He was trembling. Barely.
With effort or restraint, she couldn’t tell.
“Rowan,” he whispered, “don’t stop.”
So she didn’t.
She let the power swell.
Let it meet his.
Let it trust his.
And the sanctuary reacted instantly.
A blinding pulse exploded through the clearing, shooting upward like a beacon.
Rowan cried out — a sound ripped from her chest — and Elias pulled her tight against him, shielding her from the worst of the flare.
The light washed through everything.
Through the stones.
Through the ground.
Through the forest.
And far, far beyond.
The tremors stopped.
The howling ceased.
Silence crashed over the clearing.
Elias kept holding her — arms firm around her waist — his breathing harsh against her ear.
Rowan trembled in his arms, overwhelmed and breathless.
“Elias... what just—”
He pulled back enough to meet her eyes.
His were glowing.
Just barely.
Shadow and light both flickering inside them.
“You stabilized,” he whispered. “Your light fused with my shadow just enough to anchor your awakening.”
He exhaled, relieved and shaken.
“You did it.”
Rowan blinked, heart racing.
“I... I really did it?”
“You did more than that.”
He brushed a damp lock of hair from her cheek with a reverent touch.
“You pushed Kael back. He can’t break the boundary now.”
Rowan swallowed.
But before she could respond—
A faint chime resonated through the air.
Soft.
Not dangerous.
Ancient and melodic.
The sanctuary’s central stone glowed brighter — forming symbols she hadn’t seen before.
Elias stiffened.
Rowan frowned. “What is that?”
“The sanctuary isn’t finished with you,” Elias murmured.
His voice grew cautious.
“And it’s not just your power it’s reacting to.”
She stepped back slightly. “Then what?”
Elias turned toward the stone circle, eyes darkening with realization.
“It feels the bond.”
Rowan’s breath caught.
“Between us?”
Elias looked at her — something vulnerable flickering across his expression.
“Rowan,” he said quietly, “the sanctuary is asking you to choose.”
Her stomach tightened. “Choose what?”
Elias stepped closer, his voice low and reverent.
“Whether you want to bind your light to mine.”
Rowan’s pulse thundered.
“And if I say yes?” she whispered.
Elias’s shadows curled gently around her arm — barely touching.
“Then we become something the dark cannot break.”
“And if I say no?”
He swallowed.
“Then I will walk away,” he murmured.
“And protect you from afar.
Silently.
Always.”
Rowan’s heart twisted painfully.
The sanctuary pulsed again, waiting.
Elias watched her with the quiet, devastating patience of someone prepared to break.
“Rowan,” he said softly,
“tell me what you want.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Rowan had never felt a choice ripple through the air before—
but the sanctuary made this one impossible to ignore.
The stones glowed in slow, rhythmic pulses.
The light hummed in her chest.
The shadows at Elias’s shoulders stirred like they could feel her heartbeat.
Elias stood in front of her, every line of him controlled, restrained.
But his eyes—
Those weren’t restrained at all.
They were open.
Honest.
Willing to break if she said the wrong thing.
“Rowan,” he murmured, “don’t choose for me. Choose for you.”
Her throat tightened.
“You’re part of my choice.”
He flinched — barely — like those words landed where he didn’t expect anything to reach.
Rowan stepped closer.
“When I first saw you,” she said softly, “I didn’t know what you were. But I felt something.”
Her voice trembled.
“A pull. A warning. A comfort. I didn’t understand any of it.”
Elias swallowed hard, hands flexing at his sides like he was stopping himself from reaching for her.
“And now?” he asked.
“Now,” Rowan breathed, “I understand that none of this happened by accident.”
The sanctuary pulsed in agreement.
Elias exhaled shakily — shadows flickering in relief.
But Rowan wasn’t done.
“My light woke up because of you,” she said. “And you’ve risked everything for me—your safety, your vow, your... control.”
Her eyes softened.
“And I’m done pretending that doesn’t matter.”
Elias closed his eyes a moment, shoulders dropping like he’d been carrying the weight of the forest and finally set it down.
“Rowan...”
Her name was a confession.
“And I choose you,” she said quietly.
“With whatever this bond means. With whatever consequences come with it.”
His eyes shot open.
For a heartbeat, Elias didn’t move.
He didn’t breathe.
Then his shadows surged—
not violently,
but in a silent bloom of dark smoke that curled around them both like a shiver of relief.
“You’re sure?” he whispered. “No hesitation?”
“None,” Rowan said.
Elias stepped toward her with slow, reverent intensity — the kind of step people take toward something sacred.
Or something they never thought they could have.
The sanctuary brightened, sensing the shift.
“Rowan,” Elias murmured, “if you choose this bond—our powers will link. You’ll feel me when I’m near. When I’m hurt. When I’m angry.”
“And you’ll feel me,” she said softly.
His chest rose sharply.
“Yes.”
She reached for his hand.
Elias’s breath caught when her fingers slid between his — not because the touch surprised him, but because it meant something deeper than he’d expected.
“Then show me,” Rowan whispered. “Show me how to bind to you.”
Elias let out a slow, trembling breath.
“Then come here,” he said, voice low and shaken, guiding her toward the glowing heart of the sanctuary.
They stepped together into the circle of stone.
Light rose around them in a gentle spiral.
The air thickened with warmth and expectation.
Elias lifted both her hands in his, palms pressed together.
“Look at me.”
She did.
“Rowan,” he said softly, “repeat after me.”
The sanctuary quieted — waiting.
Elias’s voice deepened, vibrating softly in the air:
“My light meets your shadow.”
Rowan swallowed, heart thundering.
“My light meets your shadow.”
“Not to weaken, but to balance.”
“Not to weaken, but to balance.”
A glow built between their hands — bright and warm, swirling with threads of shadow.
“Not to bind my freedom...”
“Not to bind my freedom...”
Elias’s eyes softened.
“...but to bind my strength.”
Rowan exhaled, voice barely steady.
“...but to bind my strength.”
The light flared, dancing up their arms.
Elias’s grip tightened.
“In darkness, I will not fear.”
Rowan echoed, breath trembling.
“In darkness, I will not fear.”
He stepped closer — close enough that her breath hitched.
“In light, I will not hide.”
Rowan whispered the words back.
“In light, I will not hide.”
The sanctuary stones shone brilliantly.
Elias’s voice dropped to a near-whisper — threaded with something raw.
“Together, we stand.”
Rowan’s voice shook.
“Together, we stand.”
“And together...”
He leaned forward, forehead brushing hers.
“...we rise.”
Rowan breathed:
“And together... we rise.”
The moment the last word left her lips, a burst of radiant energy surged outward, flooding the clearing. The stones blazed. Their intertwined hands ignited with gold and shadow, merging into a warm, vibrating pulse of shared power.
Rowan gasped —
Elias inhaled sharply —
their eyes meeting as the bond snapped into place.
Light and shadow twined around them in a spiral, tightening, sealing—
joining.
Rowan felt it.
Deep.
Electric.
A connection inside her chest that didn’t hurt, didn’t confuse, didn’t overwhelm.
It simply fit.
Elias staggered forward slightly, one hand going to her waist as he steadied himself.
His voice was a rough whisper:
“Rowan... it worked.”
She looked up at him, breathless.
“It did?”
He nodded, jaw tight, eyes dark and bright all at once.
“I can feel you.”
“I can feel you too.”
Their hands were still clasped when the sanctuary pulse faded.
But outside—
somewhere beyond the boundary—
a howl rose.
Not angry.
Laughing.
Kael knew.
Elias’s expression hardened instantly.
“He felt it,” he growled. “He knows we’re bound.”
Rowan swallowed. “And now?”
Elias’s shadows flared.
“Now,” he said, his voice like a promise and a threat,
“Kael will come for us harder than ever.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
The bond hadn’t even settled before the world outside tried to tear it apart.
The echo of Kael’s howl rolled through the trees like distant thunder — mocking, triumphant, hungry. Rowan felt it vibrate along the new thread of connection inside her chest, an icy prickle running up her spine.
Elias felt it too.
His entire body snapped taut.
Shadows erupted along his arms, swirling up his shoulders in a violent pulse he struggled to contain. The bond between them thrummed, warm and sharp, pulling Rowan toward him instinctively.
His hand found hers.
“Are you feeling this?” he asked, voice low and tight.
“Yes,” Rowan whispered. “It feels... wrong.”
“It’s him,” Elias said. “He’s testing the bond. Pushing at it. He wants to know how strong we are.”
Another howl.
Closer.
Elias’s grip tightened.
Rowan felt the surge of protectiveness shoot through the bond—fast, fierce, scorching.
“Elias—” she breathed. “We didn’t do anything wrong.”
“No,” he said. “But we did something Kael didn’t want.”
“What’s that?”
“We chose each other.”
Rowan’s chest clenched.
Elias stepped in front of her, scanning the edge of the sanctuary, gaze sharp and predatory.
“You need to breathe,” he murmured without looking back.
“I can feel your panic.”
She inhaled shakily. “I’m trying.”
“Try harder. This bond amplifies emotion. If you spiral, it’ll drag me with you.”
Rowan swallowed. “And if you spiral?”
Elias hesitated.
Then said, “Then you’ll have to pull me out.”
Lightning flickered somewhere beyond the boundary.
The air outside the sanctuary felt colder, heavier — Kael pushing, circling, waiting.
Rowan wrapped her arms around herself. “What happens now?”
Elias turned to face her fully.
“We train,” he said. “We get stronger. We learn to use the bond, not fear it.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Right now?”
“Yes.”
She stared at him. “Elias, I just awakened. I just bonded. I’m exhausted.”
He stepped closer, shadows dimming around him.
“I know,” he said softly. “But Kael won’t wait for you to rest. So we train until you can stand against him. Until we both can.”
A lump formed in Rowan’s throat.
“Is this really what a flare’s life is?” she whispered. “Running? Fighting? Being hunted?”
Elias’s expression softened — barely, but she saw it.
“No,” he said. “It’s not about being hunted. It’s about being worth hunting.”
She blinked.
“You carry the kind of light the dark fears,” he murmured.
“You’re powerful, Rowan. Powerful enough that Kael is willing to tear down an ancient sanctuary just to reach you.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better.”
“It should,” he said gently. “It means you’re not prey.”
He cupped her face lightly.
“It means you’re a threat.”
Rowan’s breath hitched — not from fear.
From the raw certainty in his voice.
The stones around them pulsed again, softer now — like they recognized the bond had settled, accepted, woven into the sanctuary’s ancient magic.
Elias stepped back, straightening.
“First lesson,” he said. “We strengthen your control.”
“How?”
“Push toward me.”
Rowan blinked. “Push what?”
“Your light.”
Her heart skipped. “Last time I did that, I nearly blinded you.”
His lips twitched — not quite a smile, but close.
“I’m not that easy to break.”
Rowan swallowed, then lifted her hands.
She focused on the warm pulse inside her chest.
Light flickered along her palms — soft gold threads shimmering against her skin.
“Good,” Elias murmured. “Now push.”
She did.
A gentle wave of warmth shot toward him —
but Elias raised a hand, catching her light with his shadows.
The two energies collided softly, spiraling together like smoke and flame.
Elias inhaled sharply.
“Stronger.”
Rowan pushed again.
The light grew brighter.
Elias’s shadows met it in a controlled flare.
He gritted his teeth.
“More.”
Rowan hesitated. “Elias—what if I hurt you—”
“More.”
She obeyed.
Light surged from her palms, bright and hot—
Elias staggered a step back, shadows erupting from him to compensate, swirling violently around his body before stabilizing.
Rowan gasped. “Elias!”
“I’m fine,” he rasped. “Good. Again.”
She raised her hands—
But froze as another sound cut through the forest.
Not a howl.
A voice.
Soft.
Cold.
Human-shaped.
“Little flare...”
Rowan’s blood went cold.
Elias spun toward the boundary, shadows surging like black fire.
“No,” he hissed. “No. He’s too close.”
The sanctuary stones crackled with defensive light.
Rowan stepped back. “Is that—”
“Yes,” Elias growled.
“Kael.”
A silhouette appeared at the very edge of the sanctuary.
