9. “Darling boy, wake up.”

The two men start chanting.And all I can do is watch.

I can't even cry for the future lost. For our love that's about to become undone.

"What's happening?" someone whispers beside me, but I can't move my eyes to see who they are. I can't do anything. I'm hopeless.

I see a pair of dark-skinned hands in my peripheral vision. They're blurry, but I can tell the fingers are stretching and twisting.

"I can't hold him for long. You need to knock him out ASAP," the voice says, and I watch ahead as Vincent, the time witch, drops to his knees and folds in half, screaming. A turquoise ether rises from him. It unfolds, glimmering, taking shape. The shape of Vincent in spirit form.

The pressure around me drops, and Brim jumps on top of Ryan Byron before he can do anything. Spirit Vincent looks at her, at me, at the man beside me in utter confusion.

I turn my head and find Jace wincing beside me. The necromancer is struggling. His entire body is twisting this way and that, holding the two parts of the time witch separate.

Jace looks back at me.

"What the hell are you waiting for? Do something! I can't hold him for long."

Right. First things first.

I step forward, open my wings, and jump across the room where Vincent's body is in agony.

A human's spirit and body—well, anyone's spirit and body, really—can't be kept separate for long without causing irreparable damage.

Although the problem in the current situation isn't the damage it will cause to Vincent. It's the fact that Jace Starling is not a powerful witch. He can't control his necromancing abilities, which means I only have seconds to act. I've already wasted enough of them.

I flick my hand and the knife the two brats were using to cut my beautiful boy flies to me. I lift Vincent's head by the hair and pin his back to me. The knife slices his neck with a crunch that's so satisfying it alone could make me come. Not because I'm a pervert. But because I take pleasure in ending anyone who steps between my soulmate and me.

The blue ethereal form of Vincent dissipates as Jace falls to the floor, gasping for breath, and the real Vincent bleeds to death.

"No! Vin. Vin, no!" Ryan shouts, but it's too late for his friend.

I approach Jace and place a hand on his back.

"Are you all right?"

His heartbeat is erratic under my palm. His lungs are inflating and deflating at a rapid pace, but the man looks up at me and nods.

"Sorry. That took more out of me than I anticipated." He looks down at Vincent and winces. "I…that's not knocking him out."

I help him back up to his feet and glare at him.

"He tried to hurt my Yu-jin. He doesn't get knocked out. He dies."

I don't even notice my tone, but if the way Jace pulls back and his eyes bulge, I must have growled.

"Yeah. O…okay. Sure," he mumbles.

"Sorry." I let go of his hand and turn to look at the man of the hour.

The man who doomed two of his friends in order to steal my boy's power.

"Unless you want to end up like them"—I point to the dead bodies—"you better release Yu-jin now, or Brimfang will eat you alive."

Ryan doesn't even flinch. He nods a little too eagerly and steals glances at Brim, who is watching me, waiting for my signal.

I flick my head to the side, and she dismounts. Ryan pushes himself to a sitting position and leans against his bed.

"I…I'm sorry. I just…I…my power is useless. I can't…the world will eat me alive out there. I just…"

His stuttering would amuse me if I cared an ounce about his story or his reasons, but all he achieves is irritation.

I tap my foot and glare at the pathetic little man.

"You think I give a shit about you or place in the magic world? Release him. Now!" My entire body is set on fire by my anger, and I'm close, so close to aiming it at him, at this pathetic excuse of a human, but I take deep breaths and control myself. Because I'm also so close to getting my soulmate back to the world of the living.

Ryan closes his eyes and gulps. Each moment he stays like that is an eternity in torture and a lesson in patience. How dare he say he has no power. How dare he use that as an excuse for what he tried to do to my Yu-jin. Dreamwalking is a great power envied by many witches, even demons. Not many are blessed with it, and few can do what this shallow man can. Hold someone prisoner.

And yet he despises it.

Of course he does. He can't show it off. He can't flash it at people so he can raise his status. He can carry fancy, expensive spells like the one he used at the gym, but that's not the same as having the power yourself, is it? That's cheating. That's what money can buy you. Money can't buy you a different natural power.

"Hurry up!" I spit on the floor and refuse to look at my Yu-jin.

I can't.

I can't look at him like that, lifeless, without losing my willpower and composure, and I need both right now if I'm to ever get him back.

Ryan opens his eyes and, with a deep breath, says, "It's done."

"He's still out, douchebag!" Jace crawls next to his friend, taking the words out of my mouth.

"I've released him from his dreams. You…you just need to wake him."

I push Jace out of the way. If I hurt him, I can apologize later. Right now, I need my boy back. I need my soulmate to look at me and tell me he's okay.

"Yu-jin." I shake him. "Darling boy, wake up." I bend and kiss his lips and watch him, waiting.

My heart can't take this anymore. It's beating so fast it may just explode before he even opens his eyes.

"What's going on?"

"Oh my God, he's dead!"

"Is that blood? Shit, someone call security."

The voices get louder and louder in my head. Yet all I can focus on is him. My one and only Yu-jin.

"Get the fuck out of here." I hear Jace shouting.

I don't care. I really don't care. They can watch. They can call security. They can call the fucking president. I don't give a rat's ass. I just need…

Yu-jin blinks. His gorgeous brown irises get smaller and his pupils bigger as he slowly comes to life and his eyes adjust to the darkly lit dorm room.

"Lu…Lucian? Is that you?"

"Yes, my love. It's me. It's me." I wrap him in my arms and close my eyes.

He smells of yuzu and coconut even after everything that happened. Even after all the blood spilled in this room, he smells like the most beautiful, the most innocent, the most refreshing young man in the world.

"Is this real? Am…am I dreaming?" he mumbles into my collarbone, and I let go of him only for a moment. I cover his mouth with my lips and make sure he knows this isn't a dream. That the nightmare he was trapped in is over.

He kisses me back with the same fervor as ever. The same hunger as always. Has he missed me as much as I have missed him?

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, my boy. This is all my fault. I left you all alone. I left you unprotected. I wasn't thinking. I wasn't using my mind. I won't let that happen again. Will you forgive me? Will you forgive my sins?"

I can't let go of his face. I can't stop staring into his eyes. I can't help the tears running down my face.

"I thought…I thought I'd lost you. I thought?—"

"Lucian, baby, what are you talking about? This isn't your fault. This isn't your fault at all. Not for a second. Please stop apologizing. You have nothing to feel sorry for." He hooks his finger under my chin and drives me back to his lips.

"I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost you," I tell him when we pull away.

"I don't know what I'd do either." He smiles, and his eyes sneak glances to the sides. "Jace?"

As he lets go and hugs his friend, I watch him take in his surroundings, take in the entire room, and realize the audience watching from outside the door.

"What the…?"

"That shithead tried to hurt you again. He used his friends to stop Lucian, but I helped," Jace says all in one breath. It takes a moment to register what comes out of his mouth.

Yu-jin turns around and locates Ryan.

"You…you did this?" he asks.

Ryan doesn't respond. He just stares at my boy, my man, my everything. I want to gouge his eyes out so he can never set them on my Yu-jin ever again.

"And you were there in my dreams. You wouldn't let me go. And for what? For a chance to enslave another eldritch monster?" Yu-jin's voice is such a sweet song, his anger goddamn music to my ears.

"I'm sorry. I…I only wanted?—"

"You wanted power. Come on. Don't be shy. Say it. You said it in the gym when no one was watching. Are you scared to say it now?"

He takes slow, measured steps toward Ryan, and the spoiled brat closes his eyes and nods.

"My father. He hates me. He hates my power. He thinks I can't be someone in this world unless I use spells."

"Do you…?" Yu-jin dips down, nose to nose with the man who took advantage of him. "Do you think I care?"

His tail, black, smooth, and lethal, grows out of his behind, and the audience gasps.

"Slavery is never an option, you cunt. Never!"

The tail swivels around him so fast it almost becomes a blur, and the end, the pointy, sharp tip, the same one that fucked so well a few hours ago, goes right through Ryan Byron's head and splatters my man in his blood.

Then Yu-jin straightens, turns, and looks at the people at the door.

"What are you staring at?" he growls.

His tail dislodges from Ryan's head and rises above his shoulder like a third eye trying to locate its next victim.

I don't think he's ever looked sexier.

He may look like an innocent young man that fate has played too many jokes on at his expense, but it's exactly those things that have toughened him up. All he ever needed was confidence, and that was the only thing I gave him. Everything else was all him.

"Marry me," I say.

"What?"

It's not just Yu-jin who turns to me. I can feel all eyes on me.

Do I care? Not one bit.

"Marry me. Please." I reach for his hand and take it in mine. I'm already on the floor, on my knees, the only thing I'm missing is a ring, but that can be easily rectified.

Yu-jin's eyes grow wide and he looks from me to the group of people gathered at the door.

"Wha— Lucian, people are watching."

"You don't want to marry me?"

He shakes his head, and my heart sinks.

"No, that's not…of course I do. But…"

Did he say of course? Did he say he wants to marry me?

"I thought you wanted to keep us a secret."

I kiss the back of his hand and look up at him.

"The only reason I ever wanted that was to keep you safe. To keep abreast of any threats. I've already failed that, so I don't care if they find out."

Yu-jin licks his lips and exhales.

"I thought…I thought you were embarrassed by me."

What?

"Embarrassed? My darling boy, what on earth are you talking about? I could never—you could never embarrass me. Ever!"

His chest rises and falls once, twice, and the third time, he falls on me, wrapping both arms around me and squeezing.

"Oh, Lucian. I love you. I love you so much. I'm sorry I ever doubted you."

I hug him back. Pin him to my body. Breathe him in. I never want to let him go. If I could attach myself to him for the rest of eternity, I would.

"Does that mean you will marry me? I know it's soon?—"

"Soon? You've known each other for days," Jace says.

Yu-jin lets go and grimaces at his friend.

"I don't care about that. I love him. There's no one else for me." He turns to me. "Only you, Lucian."

I take both his hands in mine and squeeze them.

"And there's no one else for me ever. You…you're my mate."

"Yes, I know, silly. You've told me like a hundred times."

"But I haven't told you what that means." I rise from the floor, and he cranes his neck to keep his eyes glued to mine.

"Wh-what does it mean?"

I tug him closer, brush my lips over his, and kiss his cheek all the way to his ear.

"Our lives are bound. You're my soulmate. Your life and mine, our fate is tied. You'll live as long as I live, and I shall live as long as you."

His eyes go even wider, if that's even possible.

"That means…if I die, you die too?"

I nod.

"Marrying me will seal the deal," I tell him.

It's only a little white lie.

He doesn't need to know how close we both came to dying. Because if those dickheads had killed me, they would have killed my Yu-jin too. That's why I hate myself for getting caught in their little scheme. Because until I came in, Yu-jin was safe. As long as he could provide them with a blood sacrifice and access to endless eldritch creatures, he was safe. Trapped but safe.

But I put his life at risk by adding myself to the equation.

"Lucian…I want nothing…" he starts, and all the oxygen escapes my body. I can't breathe. "I want nothing more than to bind my life with yours. Forever and ever."

I allow myself to fill my lungs and kiss him, squeezing him in my arms, lifting him from the floor. I just want him all for me. Always for me.

"You hear that?" I ask all those watching. Yu-jin grimaces and lets go. "Do you hear it? Yu-jin Jung is mine, and if anyone ever dares to hurt him, they'll end up like them." I point to the dead bodies around us.

No one responds. They all just stare. In shock, fear, or awe, I don't know. And it doesn't matter. Nothing matters. Only Yu-jin.