Chapter 1: The Mage's Plaything
The violet bands of light tightened around Kael’s wrists with a soft, sinister hum, the magic reacting to his struggle. He hated the way his own body betrayed him, muscles jumping where her sparks had touched his skin just moments before.
Lyra watched, a slow smile playing on her lips, her head tilted as if observing a fascinating, stubborn insect. “All that heroic effort,” she sighed, her voice a lazy drawl that somehow filled the entire chamber. “It’s just going to make the release so much sweeter, for both of us.”
She stepped closer, until the heat of her body was a new form of constraint. “You don’t even know what you’re fighting, do you?” Her fingertips, cool and deliberate, traced the line of his jaw. She whispers spells, low and guttural, words that slithered into his ears and coiled hot in his gut. A sharp, involuntary gasp escaped him as the magical bands dissolved, but a deeper, more profound ache took their place. His head fell back, a strangled sound caught in his throat as the compulsion settled into his bones.