Alchemised

by SenLinYu

“You’re Holdfast’s little foreign bitch.” She looked away again, ignoring him, determined to finish without speaking. She felt marginally less sorry for him now. “I’m going to tell you a secret,” he muttered while she was finishing his hands. “You’re going to lose this war. No one can stop the Undying. They’re the new gods. Someday I’m going to be one of them. People are going to know the Lancasters.”

They were the inverse and counter to each other. A healer and killer, circling slowly, the push and pull inexorable.

“Well, that’s the basics. If there’s anything you’d want added to the kit, or ideas you have, I can try to make them.” “The basics?” He pulled a watch out of his pocket. “You’ve been talking for over an hour.”

“I must say, Marino, you’ve ended up being quite expensive.”

“Marino, what’s wrong?” He tried to step back, but she wouldn’t let go. “Nothing! I just spent a lot of time making that medical kit for you, and I did spend an hour teaching you how t-to use it, so—I think it would be really ungrateful if you—d-died.”

His hand was warm against her throat, and his thumb ran slowly along the scar below her jaw. She leaned closer, her hand sliding up from his chest to his shoulder to pull him forward and kiss him. It was not a slow, sweet kiss. It was not a kiss caused by alcohol or insecurity. It was born of rage, despair, and desire so hot, it threatened to burn her into oblivion. It was possibly a kiss goodbye. She wanted him to know. It was real. For her, it had always been real.

It happened so fast. She’d never thought it would be something soft or slow, but it was more like a collision, like breaking across each other. The rush of skin and teeth as she let herself be consumed.

Even now, his jaw was tense. His expression guarded. His mouth held in that hard, flat line. But his eyes… She could tell— He was hers. The realisation broke her heart.

“I can’t—I can’t do this again—” he finally gasped out. “I can’t care for someone again. I can’t take it.”

Hey so this book is ruining my life.

For the first time, Kaine Ferron was fully human to her. She’d slipped through his walls and peeled away the defensive layers of malice and cruelty, and found that there he carried a broken heart. She could use that.

“I’m sure there’s something poetic in it all, but right now all I feel is a new set of manacles.” He let go and stepped away from her, heading for the door. “So forgive me if I dislike looking at you. I’m still adjusting to the ways these new ones chafe.”