[BL] I Didn't Sign Up For This-Chapter 37: In Which I Develop X-Ray Vision (Sort Of) II

We arrived at the penthouse. Azryth immediately went into full security mode, making calls, checking systems, activating protections I didn’t know existed.

I sat on the couch, trying to process everything.

I could see auras now. Read loyalty bindings, identify supernatural affiliations.

Which made me even more valuable to the Covenant, even more dangerous to their operations.

Even more of a target.

"Stop spiraling," Azryth said, appearing with two glasses of whiskey. "I can feel your anxiety through the binding."

"I just discovered I’m a walking supernatural detector. Spiraling seems appropriate."

"Fair." He sat beside me, handed me a glass. "But spiraling doesn’t help, planning does. And we’re very good at planning."

"Are we really? We’ve been reacting to threats constantly, the poison, the spirits, now Lirien. We’re always one step behind."

"We were one step behind." He clinked his glass against mine. "Now we’re ahead. We know the Covenant has operatives in my organization, we know you can identify them, we know they’re actively gathering intelligence, that’s more information than we’ve had since this started."

I took a drink. The whiskey burned, grounding.

"What happens to Lirien?" I asked.

"She’s being monitored, contained. Her communication device has been compromised, she’ll continue receiving false information from us while we feed her carefully crafted lies." His smile was cold. "Let the Covenant think they still have eyes on us, let them get comfortable with their intelligence. Then we’ll use their confidence against them."

"That’s... surprisingly devious."

"I’m a demon, Riven. Deviousness is expected." He set down his glass. "But right now, we need to focus on your new ability. Can you try to activate it consciously? Or does it only manifest under stress?"

I closed my eyes, trying to remember the trigger. "I was angry, jealous, protective, all those emotions at once. Then it just... happened."

"Strong emotion amplifies power, we’ve established that." He took my hand. "Try now, look at me, try to see my aura."

I opened my eyes, focused on him. Tried to push past normal vision to whatever that other sight had been.

Nothing.

"It’s not working," I said after a minute.

"Try with emotion, think about something that makes you feel strongly."

I thought about Lirien threatening us, about the Covenant hunting my family, about Azryth being hurt.

The world shifted.

Colors bloomed around him. Gold and red and amber, swirling in complex patterns, but unlike Lirien’s aura, his was clean. No purple corruption, no loyalty marks binding him to others.

Just power, ancient, immense power barely contained in human form.

And threaded through everything, connecting his aura to mine in visible strands of light, the binding. Bright and strong and beautiful in ways I couldn’t articulate.

"I see it," I whispered. "Your aura, the binding, everything."

"What do you see?"

"Power, so much power, gold and red and amber, all moving together." I traced one of the visible strands with my finger, watching it pulse at my touch. "And the binding, we’re connected by actual visible threads, hundreds of them."

His expression softened. "That’s the binding’s manifestation, the physical representation of our connection. Most wardens can’t see it. It’s too subtle, too integrated."

"It’s beautiful."

"It’s necessary." But there was something warm in his voice. "Can you see anything else? Any marks? Any foreign influences?"

I looked deeper, past the surface colors to the layers beneath.

"No marks, no bindings to others, just..." I paused, seeing something unexpected. "Scars, old ones, from the original sealing, I think. They’re healed but still visible, like fracture lines in the energy."

"The imprisonment," he said quietly. "It left marks, permanent ones."

I reached out without thinking, my hand hovering over his chest where the scars seemed deepest. "Does it hurt?"

"Not anymore, the binding healed most of it." His hand covered mine. "You’re getting stronger. Seeing deeper. This is good."

"It’s exhausting." The other-sight was already fading, my brain unable to sustain the enhanced perception. "I can’t hold it for long."

"You will, with practice." He pulled me against his side. "But enough for tonight, you’ve done well. Identified a threat, manifested a new ability, and survived a dinner with a succubus spy. That’s impressive even by our standards."

I laughed despite the exhaustion. "Our standards are getting weird."

"Our entire situation is weird, might as well embrace it."

We sat in comfortable silence, drinking whiskey, processing the evening’s revelations.

"Azryth?" I said after a while.

"Mm?"

"The things Lirien said, about the binding manipulating emotions, about it making you weak." I paused. "Do you think there’s truth in that?"

"I think the binding amplifies what’s already present, makes connections stronger, makes feelings harder to ignore." He set down his glass. "Does that make me weaker in a tactical sense? Possibly. I’m more vulnerable through you, more likely to compromise if you’re threatened, more emotionally invested in outcomes." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"But?"

"But I’m also stronger in ways I wasn’t before. More motivated to protect, more willing to take risks, more connected to something beyond myself." His arm tightened around me. "The Covenant thinks love is weakness. They’re wrong, love is motivation, purpose, reason to fight harder than you ever thought possible."

"That sounds like something from a motivational poster."

"Doesn’t make it less true." He pressed a kiss to my temple. "You make me want to be better, stronger, more careful with my resources and my life because losing means losing you. That’s not weakness, that’s evolution."

I felt heat rising through my cheeks, my heart beating faster.

"I love you," I said, the words escaping before I could stop them.

Azryth went very still.

"You..." he started.

"I love you," I repeated, more certain this time. "I don’t know if it’s the binding amplifying feelings or if it’s genuine or if it’s some combination of both. But I know that watching Lirien threaten you made me want to burn the world down, and seeing your aura, seeing how connected we are, it felt right. True. Like that’s how it’s supposed to be."

He was staring at me, expression unreadable.

"You don’t have to say it back," I added quickly. "I know it’s complicated, I know we’re still figuring out what’s real versus what’s binding. I just... needed you to know."

"Riven.."

"And I know about the soul consumption clause, if you don’t feel the same, if this becomes unbalanced, I know the risks. But I’m accepting them, because even with the risks, this is better than going back to being alone."

He cupped my face with both hands, forcing me to meet his eyes.

"I love you too," he said. Simply. Certainly. "I have for weeks now, maybe since you knocked me into that wall the first time, maybe since you crashed Lirien’s dinner, maybe since the moment you touched the amulet and changed everything."

"Really?"

"Really." He smiled, and it was soft and genuine. "And yes, I’m terrified. Yes, I worry about the binding manipulating us. Yes, I’m concerned about the soul consumption clause. But I also know that what I feel for you is real, as real as anything I’ve felt in five centuries. And I’m choosing it, choosing you, regardless of the risks."

The binding surged between us, joyful and bright.

"So we’re doing this," I said. "Actually doing this, love and binding and all the complications."

"Apparently." He pulled me closer, until we were breathing the same air. "Despite every reason we shouldn’t, despite the threats and the dangers and the soul consumption clause."

"We’re idiots."

"Absolute idiots." His smile widened. "But we’re idiots together."

He kissed me then, soft and careful and full of promise.

The binding sang.

And for the first time since this whole insane situation started, I felt like maybe, just maybe, we’d end up okay.