Page 114 of Ashen Souls

The image of my world burning to the ground flashed through my mind.

I planted both hands flat against his chest and shoved with every ounce of strength I possessed. The sudden rejection caught him off guard just enough to break the contact. He took a half-step back, and I scrambled sideways along the wall, my fingers snatching the edges of my hoodie together to cover myself.

“Do you know why I can’t say it, Daeren? Do you know why I could never love you?”

The lazy smirk vanished, hardening into cold calculation.

“Because of precisely what you just did.”

I met his eyes head-on now, refusing to look away, refusing to soften the words.

“You don’t have a soul.” I threw the words at him.“You don’t love. You can’t feel. You only manipulate and seduce and take whatever you need to reach your goal.”

His expression turned to granite.

“I saw it,” I hissed, twisting the blade. “I saw your soul ripped away when they exiled you into this dimension. I saw the hollow thing that stayed behind. That’s why you are like this. That’s why you need me to say I love you. Isn’t it? Because my devotion is the key. The final trigger. The only thing that breaks the curse jailing you here.”

A low laugh echoed from his chest, bouncing off the stone.

“Ah… my naive little bird. You think you’ve discovered the truth. That now you understand.” He tilted his head. “You know nothing, Aveline. You still don’t see it, do you?”

He closed the distance between us again.

“You belong to me.”

His left hand hovered over my wrist. Our sigils began to glow and burn, sending unbearable waves of desire coursing through my body.

“And I belong to you.”

He let the threat bleed into the silence.

“You don’t get to decide whether you love me. You must.”

My breath hitched, every pull of air suddenly a battle.

“Because that devotion…” he murmured, “is the only reason you are alive. Without it… there would be no soul inside you.”

It took every last shred of my willpower to fight the pull of that connection.

“You think this is new? I already had you once, and I waited an eternity for you to come back to me.”

When he smiled this time, there was no humanity in it at all.

“You are right,” he continued. “I have no soul left to love you with, Aveline. But do not mistake that for mercy. It only makes me hungrier.”

His knuckles grazed my jaw.

“If you think I will let you just walk away from me, you haven’t been paying attention. I didn't reach across dimensions just to fetch a key. I came to claim my queen. And eventually, you will sit on the throne beside me.”

The true scope of his obsession finally locked into place. The disjointed visions. The grief I had felt only moments ago. The way my blood recognized his touch. It all made sense now. Avelia hadn't just cast a spell to tie their fates together. She had been reincarnated as me.

“No.” The refusal scraped out of my throat.

“I don’t want this. I don’t want you. I don’t want whatever this is supposed to be.”

He didn't blink. His stillness was more terrifying than rage.

“A couple of weeks ago, I had a life. A future that made sense. Now you’re standing here telling me I’m supposed to become… what? Your queen? Rule some infernal wasteland I didn’t even know existed?”