Lyriana staggered backward, her breath still ragged, heart hammering in her chest. The world around her seemed to breathe as it returned to its former rhythm, the pulse of the curse fading like the last remnants of a dying storm. But the weight of what had just happened was anything but gone. It settled into her bones, into her soul, a darkness she could neither erase nor escape.
Kael's presence lingered like a brand on her skin. He hadn't moved—didn't even seem to breathe. His gaze was distant, yet she could feel the intense pull of him in the air between them. It was like gravity, a force neither of them could outrun.
She raised her hands, trying to steady herself, but her fingers trembled. The curse—the thing that had chained her, tormented her—was gone. The scar on her neck was gone. It had worked. He had done what she asked. She'd broken the curse with the kiss.
But something else, something more insidious, lingered.
"What… what have you done?" she asked, voice barely above a whisper.
Kael finally moved, his jaw tightening, a flicker of something unreadable in his expression. "I've done exactly what you asked me to do."
"No." Lyriana's chest tightened. "You don't understand. You've done more than that."
The silence stretched. The air felt thick now, too heavy to breathe. The echoes of the magic were still there—writhing, coiling like tendrils beneath her skin. It wasn't the curse anymore. It was something else, something darker.
Kael stepped forward, closer now, his eyes piercing through her. "The curse was never meant to be undone in this way. You freed me, yes. But the cost…"
She narrowed her eyes. "The cost?"
He took another step, standing so close now that the air between them burned. He reached out, and his fingers grazed the curve of her jaw, sending a shiver down her spine. It wasn't gentle—no, it was purposeful, like the caress of something far more dangerous than the two of them.
"The curse was a bond," he murmured. "A link. One that tied us to the very magic that defines us."
She swallowed, her heart thundering. "A link?"
Kael nodded. "Yes. When the curse was broken, something else was awakened. Now, Lyriana, you belong to it."
Her pulse spiked. "No. I won't."
His grip tightened, not painfully but unyielding. "You broke it, Lyriana. But now you're bound to something else. Something that won't let you go."
The reality of his words hit her like a tidal wave. The magic was still there. The power they had shared—the bond—hadn't vanished. Instead, it had shifted, morphing into something new, something she couldn't outrun or resist. It was inside of her now, as much a part of her as her own breath.
"I didn't want this," she whispered, voice cracking. "I didn't want any of this."
Kael's gaze softened, just for a moment, before hardening again. "You don't get to choose, Lyriana. Not anymore."
She tried to pull away, but the pressure in the air around them was suffocating. The pulse of magic beneath her skin was undeniable. She was trapped. No, not trapped—bound. The curse was gone, but its replacement was just as heavy, just as consuming.
"I…" Her breath hitched. "I can't do this."
Kael shook his head, stepping back, though his eyes never left hers. "You already did. The price was paid the moment you broke the curse. Now we both have to live with it."
The air between them was charged with an unspoken tension, a weight neither of them could ignore. The magic that had tied them together was still there. Unseen, but palpable. She could feel it tightening around her chest, around her heart.
The curse was broken. But something far more binding had taken its place. Something neither of them could escape.