Dominic covered his hand with his own, his touch warm, grounding. Magic stirred, not wild or explosive, but a faint hum that seemed to settle into his bones.
“Focus on what you want,” Dominic murmured. “Not the how.”
Freedom.
The word rose unbidden, sharp and aching. Freedom from the contracts, the summons, and the invisible leash that had followed him across cities and years.
His grip tightened.
For a long time, nothing happened. At least, nothing he could detect.
Then Dominic tensed.
His fingers flexed against Sammy’s wrist—tight, almost reactive—before he caught himself. But the pressure had lingered a fraction too long, and something unreadable flickered behind his eyes.
Sammy frowned, panic bubbling beneath the surface. “What? What’s wrong?”
Dominic blinked, the tension smoothing away as quickly as it had come. His thumb brushed lightly over Sammy’s knuckles as he gave him a reassuring smile.
“Nothing,” he said, voice easy. “Just stay with me.”
Sammy hesitated, but what choice did he have? As long as the relique existed, he would never truly be free.
Besides, he trusted his mate. Dominic had basically fought a war to get to him, and he wouldn’t let anything hurt him now.
“Okay,” he breathed. “Keep going.”
Dominic’s hand settled more firmly over his, steadying him. “That’s right. Everything is okay. Just focus.”
He did as instructed, clearing his mind of everything except the totem and the magic that cursed him. He concentrated on what he wanted, on a life unplagued by fear or restraint.
The locket grew warm, and a faint pulse beat against his skin, slow at first, then quicker, like something waking up after a long sleep.
His breath hitched. “Dominic—”
“I’ve got you.”
The words wrapped around him as the pulse surged.
Heat flooded his hand, racing up his arm in stinging, electric currents. Then a thin, high buzzing threaded through the air as the casing warped and bulged.
Sammy gasped, instinctively trying to pull away, but Dominic held fast.
“Don’t let go.”
The pulse spiked.
Light cracked through the seams of the locket, thin at first, then blinding as something inside it fractured under the strain. The drop of blood sealed within seemed to shudder, dark red shifting to something brighter, almost incandescent.
Pressure built—tight, suffocating, unbearable—and tiny etched symbols flickered across the surface of the pendant.
The locket collapsed inward with a brittle snap, the metal crumpling in on itself as the magic holding it together failed all at once. A puff of red flame flashed across Sammy’s palm, then vanished, leaving behind nothing but twisted fragments and dust that sifted through his fingers to the floor.
Silence rushed in as the hum in the air cut off. For one fragile, impossible heartbeat, disappointment tried to take root when he realized he felt no different.
It hit him all at once, light and dizzying, like the first full breath after being held underwater too long. The weight he hadn’t even realized he carried lifted, leaving him hollow in its wake.
“I—” Sammy laughed weakly, breathless. “I think—”