CHAPTER 164

CHAPTER 164
SELENE

I stood near the mouth of the cave, staring up at the darkening sky.

The eclipse was coming.

Not tomorrow.

Not hours from now.

Soon.

Maybe half an hour.

Less.

The light had already started to shift, the sun turning that strange muted gold that made everything look like it was holding its breath too long. Like the world had forgotten how to exhale properly.

The air felt heavier too—thick in a way I couldn’t quite explain, like the forest itself was aware something was about to break open.

Or lock into place.

My stomach tightened.

Tonight, everything changed.

Either the bond stabilised…

Or it tore us apart completely.

No in-between.

I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the cool evening air brush over my skin, trying to steady the storm building under it.

Please let this work.

I wasn’t even sure who I was praying to anymore.

The universe.

Fate.

Whatever force thought it was funny to throw me into vampires, werewolves, and magical soul-bonds that actively tried to murder me when I got too close to the person I apparently couldn’t live without.

My lips pressed into a thin line.

“Great sense of humour,” I muttered under my breath.

A pause.

Then, softer—

“Could really use a break right about now.”

I just needed the binding to work.

Needed this constant, gnawing pain to stop.

Needed the bond to stop feeling like it was trying to tear us apart every time we got too close.

I wanted to be able to touch him without bracing for impact—without wondering whether my light would burn him or his darkness would swallow me whole.

A pair of familiar arms slid around my waist from behind.

Darius.

My body tensed on instinct.

Then—

Nothing.

No sharp spike of pain.

No violent snap of rejection through my ribs.

Just a low, uneasy thrum instead, like two exhausted enemies sitting across from each other at a table, too tired to fight but still too stubborn to surrender.

Small victory.

I’d take it.

Just two hours ago, it had been anything but peaceful.

TWO HOURS AGO

Darius leaned in to kiss me, his lips barely brushing mine.

The bond detonated.

One moment there was heat and hunger. The next, everything tore apart.

A brutal wave of opposing power exploded between us. My fae light surged up like a blinding white flame, while his vampire darkness rose like an endless black tide. 

They slammed into each other with raw violence — two forces that refused to coexist.

I staggered back with a gasp as pain ripped through my chest.

The ground beneath our feet fractured in a widening circle. 

Grass curled and blackened instantly, as if all life had been sucked out in a single heartbeat. 

Dust and small stones lifted off the ground, spinning in jagged, chaotic spirals caught between the two clashing powers. 

On my side of the space, the air burned bright and searing, overexposed like staring directly into the sun. 

On Darius’s side, everything plunged into heavy, suffocating darkness — thick and cold, swallowing sound and light alike.

Where the two forces met in the middle, reality itself seemed to break.

Stones cracked with sharp, violent snaps. 

A few larger rocks actually lifted a foot off the ground before crashing back down, as if gravity had momentarily forgotten how to work. 

The air warped and shimmered between us like a cracked mirror, trembling under the pressure.

Darius staggered hard, boots skidding across the broken earth. 

For half a second his usual iron control slipped — his shadows lashed out wildly in response to my light. 

He caught himself, one hand pressed to his chest like he was physically holding his own power inside.

His eyes locked on mine instantly.

Wide. 

Sharp. 

Alarmed in a way I had rarely seen on him.

“Fuck,” he breathed, the word barely cutting through the charged air.

Another violent pulse hit.

The space between us twisted again, the air bending and shuddering as if the world itself was trying to push us apart. 

I felt it in every nerve — my spark desperately trying to burn his darkness away, while his shadows fought to smother my light completely.

I clutched at my sternum, breathing hard, the aftershocks still crackling through my veins.

Darius took one careful step forward, then stopped, jaw tight. 

“Selene…” His voice dropped, rough at the edges. 

“Fight it. Don’t let it pull you under. Just—hold it steady.”

A short, strained laugh tore out of me before I could stop it.

“Hold it steady?” I snapped, breath shaking.

“That’s your fucking advice? I’m over here feeling like my entire body is being argued over by two ancient disasters and you want me to hold it steady?”

His eyes flickered—just once—like he almost smiled, but didn't have the luxury.

Slowly, carefully, he reached for me.

Not enough to touch.

Just enough that his hand hovered in the space between us.

For a second, I just stared at it.

Then I lifted mine too.

The bond reacted immediately.

The air between us shuddered.

A sharp resistance pushed against my arm, like trying to force two magnets together the wrong way.

My teeth clenched.

Darius's jaw tightened.

Still, neither of us stopped.

Inch by inch, our hands moved closer.

A few feet apart.

Then one.

Then inches.

The closer we got, the harder the bond fought.

My light flickered beneath my skin.

His shadows writhed around his boots.

Neither of us looked away.

Neither of us backed down.

His fingers stretched toward mine.

Mine reached for his.

So close.

Not touching.

Just fighting the invisible force trying to keep us apart.

His shoulders squared, every muscle rigid with effort. 

The air around him trembled with restrained power, but he held it back through sheer stubbornness.

Refusing to retreat.

Refusing to fear it.

Refusing to fear us.

Then—

Nothing.

The crushing pressure disappeared.

The resistance disappeared.

The fury inside the bond disappeared.

Silence settled over the clearing.

I cried out as it ended abruptly, my knees buckling beneath me.

The ground hit hard against my kneecaps and I caught myself with one hand before I could collapse face-first into the dirt. 

Pain still laced through me in fading waves, like my body hadn’t quite caught up with the fact that it was over.

My hand flew to my chest as I tried to steady my breathing, dragging in sharp, uneven air.

Across from me, Darius staggered.

A rough breath broke from him.

Then another.

His chest rose and fell heavily, shadows flickering in tight, restless bursts around him before he forced them back under control. 

His face had gone pale, jaw locked so tight I could see the strain in it, like he was holding himself together through sheer will.

“Fuck…”

He stayed frozen for a second longer.

Then he moved.

Fast.

He dropped to his knees in front of me, close enough that I could feel him—

His hand hovered near my face for a second, but he didn’t touch me. 

For once, I was almost grateful he didn’t.

I let out a shaky breath, trying to find humour in it even through the aftershock.

“Good call,” I muttered. 

“If you’d touched me, I might’ve short-circuited again.”

His eyes flicked over me instantly, sharp with concern.

“Are you okay… baby?”

“I’m fine,” I managed.

“You are very clearly not fine.”

I shot him a glare.

“I’m fine as long as we don’t touch, Darius.”

He exhaled through his nose like he was physically restraining himself from arguing with me.

Then his hand lifted anyway.

Slow.

Careful.

Like he was testing the boundaries of fate itself. 

He brushed a few strands of hair back from my face, careful—almost afraid the smallest touch might set everything off again.

The bond stirred.

Slightly 

A dull, stubborn reminder that the bond was still there and still petty.

I sucked in a breath through my teeth.

“This fucking sucks.”

Across the clearing, Roxy was staring at us with wide eyes.

"Okay," she said slowly. 

"I'm officially upgrading this situation from concerning to horrifying."

Xander didn't say a word.

That was somehow worse.

His gaze moved from me to Darius and back again, calculating, tense, like he was watching a bridge crack beneath someone's feet.

And Morgana—of course—had only taken one look before clicking her tongue like we were a particularly disappointing experiment.

“If you’re desperate to kiss or touch or whatever dramatic nonsense you two keep doing,” she added, 

“wait a few fucking hours like functional adults instead of detonating my entire lawn every time you get emotional.”

Her eyes drifted to the scorched grass and cracked stone.

“And look at this,” she continued, voice sharpening. 

“Do you have any idea how long it takes to regrow enchanted turf? No, of course you don’t. You’re too busy turning affection into a natural disaster.”

She gestured vaguely at the damage.

“This isn’t a mating bond. It’s a property violation.”

No one had argued with her.

Not after that.

Because the bond hadn’t just reacted.

It had fought back.

But Darius…

Darius had looked at me like he still would’ve kissed me anyway—knowing full well it might set everything on fire.

Like it was worth the risk.

Like I was worth the risk.

….............................

Two hours ago had been insane.

Now, standing there beside him, I couldn’t stop my mind from circling back to it.

I swallowed.

The uneasy thrum between us pulsed again—quieter now, but still there.  

Still waiting for the smallest excuse to turn violent again.

His chest pressed lightly against my back, warm and steady, his chin brushing the top of my head like it was the most natural thing in the world—like we hadn’t nearly torn reality in half earlier.

“You’re thinking too hard,” .

His voice was low, rough at the edges in that way that always made my thoughts stumble for half a second before catching up again.

His hand spread over my stomach, firm and grounding, holding me against him like he was afraid I’d drift away if he didn’t.

I let out a slow breath.

“I’m trying not to.”

His arms tightened slightly.

“But?”

I hesitated, then turned just enough to look back at him—searching those dark eyes, flecked faintly with gold in the shifting light.

“But what happened earlier…” My voice faltered for a second. 

I pushed through it anyway.

“What if the Eclipse Binding fails? What if it doesn’t fix anything? What if this is just… us now? Always like this. Always too close and never able to actually—” I swallowed.

“Never able to touch without everything breaking.”

Darius didn’t answer immediately.

His jaw tightened, like he didn’t like where my thoughts were going—like he could hear every fear I wasn’t saying out loud.

When he finally spoke, his voice was low, controlled.

“It’s the only option we have.”

A beat.

His arms around me didn’t loosen.

“If we don’t do it tonight, it won’t get easier. It’ll get worse. You felt it yourself.”

His hand flexed slightly at my waist, grounding me even as his words didn’t.

“And I’m not waiting for it to tear us apart first.”

Silence.

Then, firmer—something absolute underneath the restraint.

“It’ll work.”

A pause.

A breath.

Like he was refusing to entertain anything else.

“It has to work.”

His chin dipped slightly against my hair.

“Because I’m not walking away from you. And I’m not letting this thing decide what we are.”