CHAPTER 166

CHAPTER 166
SELENE

The binding was complete.

For a moment, no one spoke.

The magic had settled.

The pain was gone.

But the silence that followed didn’t feel like peace.

It felt like the calm that comes just before a storm tears the sky apart.

Above us, the blood-red eclipse burned across the heavens, casting the world in crimson light.

The air felt thick, charged, like the night itself was holding its breath.

The ritual had succeeded.

Darius and I were bound.

Yet instead of relief, a quiet weight settled over my chest.

This wasn’t the end.

It was the beginning.

The binding hadn’t ended the war.

It had simply ensured we’d face it together.

The real fight was still waiting for us.

Xander shifted uneasily, every muscle in his body taut as his eyes swept the tree line again and again, searching for a danger that wasn’t there.

His eyes unfocused as he stared at something in the far distance.

It looked like he had zoned out momentarily, his eyes and ears paying attention to the reaches far beyond the woods.

“This is too quiet,” Xander muttered, voice rough.

“Enjoy it while it lasts,” Darius said, his voice low and steady, though I could feel the tension coiling in him through the bond.

“Because Eron won’t give us many more moments like this,” he murmured, the words quiet but heavy with promise and warning.

Before I could even think about standing up, he caught my hand and effortlessly pulled me onto his lap, as though there had never been any other place for me.

One arm wrapped securely around my waist, anchoring me against his chest. His chin settled lightly on my shoulder, his cool breath ghosting across the sensitive skin of my neck.

“Don’t. I need to feel you against me?” he whispered, the words rough with need, sending a shiver down my spine.

I let out a slow breath and leaned back into him.

Darius pressed a kiss to the top of my head, lingering there for a heartbeat, then his lips trailed slowly down to the side of my neck.

He sucked gently at the sensitive spot just below my ear, then harder, teeth grazing my skin in a way that made me gasp and arch against him.

His hand splayed across my stomach, fingers pressing in just enough to hold me closer, as if he could pull me inside his very being.

The bond hummed warmly between us, raw and new but holding steady for now.

Light and dark no longer trying to destroy each other, but learning, however reluctantly, to share the same space.

“We did it,” he said quietly.

A small smile tugged at my lips.

“Yes. We did.”

And then, like it was the most natural thing in the world, he leaned in.

The kiss was gentle at first — no rush, no hunger, no war behind it. Just warmth. Just us. A quiet promise pressed into a moment where everything else finally stopped screaming.

But the gentleness didn’t last.

Darius’s hand slid to the back of my neck, pulling me closer as the kiss deepened, turning passionate and consuming.

His lips moved against mine with a slow, burning intensity, tongue teasing, claiming, like he needed to taste the victory on my tongue.

I melted into him, fingers curling into his shirt, the bond humming warmly between us as light and dark finally settled into something that felt like peace instead of war.

When we finally pulled apart, I was breathless, cheeks flushed, and Darius’s eyes were dark with heat and relief.

Roxy’s voice cut through the moment like a bucket of cold water.

“Ugh, you two are sickening. Get a cave or something. I’m gonna be sick from all this lovey-dovey nonsense. Save it for after we kick Eron’s ass, please. Some of us are trying to keep our breakfast down.”

I laughed softly against Darius’s chest, the sound shaky but genuine.

He pressed one last kiss to my forehead before loosening his hold just enough for me to breathe.

The binding was complete.

And for the first time in what felt like forever, the bond between us felt like a beginning instead of an ending.

I glanced at Morgana, the cranky witch who had just helped save our souls from being torn apart.

My chest tightened.

"Thank you, Morgana... for everything." My voice wavered.

"If it wasn't for you... Darius and I..."

The words caught in my throat.

If the binding hadn't worked...

We would've destroyed each other.

The thought alone made my stomach twist.

Morgana rolled her eyes so hard I was surprised they didn't fall out.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," she grumbled.

"I'm just fucking glad it's over so I can finally see the back of all of you."

A laugh escaped me.

"You can say whatever you want, but underneath all that sarcasm and swearing..."

I smiled knowingly.

"...there's actually a heart in there."

Morgana looked personally offended.

"A heart?" she scoffed.

"Obviously I've got a bloody heart

"I'm not like your constipated vampire boyfriend. His heart gave up centuries ago."

Darius didn't even blink.

"You know what?" he said with a small nod.

"After tonight, you can say whatever you want about me. I'll accept every insult you throw my way."

"Hm." Morgana folded her arms.

"Don't tempt me. I've got an extensive vocabulary."

"I don't doubt it." Darius chuckled.

She stared at him for a long moment, as if trying to decide whether to insult him anyway.

Instead, she huffed dramatically.

"I still don't like you."

"I know."

"Barely tolerate you."

"I'm aware."

"Good."

She looked almost disappointed that he wasn't arguing back.

I couldn't help smiling.

"Before we leave..." I said, turning back to her.

"Let me thank you properly."

She narrowed her eyes immediately.

"...Why do I suddenly feel like I'm being lured into a trap?"

"You like tea, right?" I asked brightly.

"I make the best jasmine tea. A little honey, fresh wild mint..." I placed a hand over my heart.

"It's the least I can do after everything you've done for us."

Morgana stared at me with complete disbelief.

"...Tea?"

"Tea."

"From the girl who nearly turned my front lawn into a smoking crater?"

"...Technically that wasn't entirely my fault."

"You also blew a hole through two of my protection wards."

"...Minor details."

She gave me the flattest look imaginable.

"How generous," she deadpanned.

"I'm overwhelmed. Truly. Next you'll offer to bake me cookies and braid my hair."

I gasped dramatically.

"I wasn't going to offer cookies..."

She blinked.

"...Because I was thinking cake."

Roxy snorted so loudly she nearly choked.

I flashed Morgana my sweetest smile.

"Come on. One cup."

"No."

"Half a cup?"

"No."

"Five minutes."

"No."

"I'll even wash the mugs."

"I'd rather hex the mugs."

"Please.." I gave her my best puppy dog eyes.

She pinched the bridge of her nose.

Then, with the longest, most dramatic sigh in history, she threw her hands into the air.

"Fine. One bloody cup."

I beamed.

"I knew you had a soft spot."

"I don't."

"You do."

"I absolutely don't."

"You said yes."

"I said yes to shutting you up."

Darius leaned closer to me, a grin tugging at his lips.

"I think that's the closest thing you'll ever get to affection from her."

Morgana pointed a finger at Darius.

"Keep talking, vampire, and I'll put wolfsbane in your tea."

Darius didn't so much as flinch

"I don't drink tea."

Morgana stared at him for a beat.

"...Well, that completely ruined my threat."

A smirk tugged at Darius's lips.

"I thought it might."

She groaned dramatically, throwing her head back toward the blood-red sky.

"I should poison your blood instead."

"I appreciate the creativity."

"You weren't supposed to."

Despite herself, I caught the slightest twitch at the corner of Morgana's mouth before she quickly buried it beneath another scowl.

Then she sighed so heavily it sounded like carrying us all had physically aged her.

"I should've let the binding fail."

"No, you wouldn't have," I said softly.

She looked at me.

"You like us."

"I absolutely do not."

"You do... whether you'll admit it or not."

She opened her mouth to argue.

"And..." I smiled.

"We're going to miss you."

For just a second, something flickered across her face.

It vanished so quickly I almost thought I'd imagined it.

"Me too," Roxy said, sounding surprisingly sincere.

"Life's way less entertaining without someone threatening to hex me every five minutes."

Morgana looked between all of us with growing horror.

"...Have I accidentally become friends with you idiots?"

"Maybe," Xander answered immediately.

"We're more like emotional parasites," Roxy corrected.

"We just keep coming back."

"Oh, brilliant." Morgana rubbed her temples.

"Like magical herpes."

Roxy gasped.

"I was going to say glitter."

"Glitter is worse," Xander muttered.

"It really is," I agreed.

"You never get rid of it."

"I hate every single one of you," Morgana declared.

"We know," Roxy said cheerfully.

"It's your love language."

"It is not."

"It really is."

"It absolutely isn't."

"You've literally risked your life for us twice."

"I was protecting the balance."

"Whatever you say Morgana."

Morgana looked at each of us in turn before letting out the longest suffering sigh imaginable.

"Just make the fucking tea..."

Hope instantly lit up my face.

"...Then get lost."

My smile faltered.

"I've had enough emotional bonding to last me the next hundred years. I need to catch up on my beauty sleep."

Roxy blinked.

"...Beauty sleep?"

Morgana raised an eyebrow.

"Obviously."

Roxy looked her up and down with exaggerated concentration.

"...How many centuries behind are you?"

There was a dangerous silence.

Then Morgana smiled.

It was the kind of smile that made grown warriors reconsider their life choices.

Roxy took one careful step backward.

"...Shit"

Morgana flicked her fingers.

A tiny purple spark shot across the garden and smacked Roxy square in the forehead.

"Ow!"

"That's your warning shot."

Roxy rubbed her forehead dramatically.

"I've been abused."

"You've been restrained."

We all burst into laughter.

Morgana rolled her eyes so hard I was amazed they stayed in their sockets.

"Honestly..."

She turned toward the cottage, muttering under her breath.

"Saving the world was somehow easier than putting up with you lot."