Page 121 of Salem’s Rise

And that is why I will stay here. Not because I trust the Veil, but because I finally understand what it is. I think with Silas leading it, it could become something beautiful. There’s no limit to what we could do together.

My eyes drift to Silas again, and a grin slowly spreads across my face. Part of me still can’t believe he’s here with me, as though his survival might be temporary, and the flames could return the moment I stop paying attention.

“You’re smiling,” he murmurs. Beneath the exhaustion and soot, something warm and achingly tender softens his expression.

“I’m just happy you’re okay,” I say. “Don’t let it go to your head.”

A cocky half smile pulls at his mouth. “I’m about to lead the most powerful magical society in New England—maybe the world,” he says. “You might want to get used to my ego expanding exponentially.”

“You’re going to become intolerable, aren’t you?”

“Most likely,” he says, a teasing light entering his eyes. His thumb brushes carefully over the bandages wrapped around my wrists, covering the raw welts left by the iron cuffs.

I don’t know what’s next for us. I don’t know what being a Veil member means or whether surviving The Rites is only the beginning of a longer fight. There’s still so much I don’t know, but the last trial made a few things clear.

The Fourth Trial taught me two things:

Silas Blackhollow is every bit as dangerous as everyone warned me. Just never to me.

Love did not make either of us weak. It saved us.

“I was terrified back there,” I say to him. “I can’t stop thinking how I almost lost you.”

His eyes meet mine, and the noise in the chamber seems to recede.

“I know exactly how you feel,” he says, and then his gaze drops to my mouth, his expression turning wicked. “Although after the hellish night we just survived, I’m mostly thinking about how quickly I can get you back to my bedroom.”

The look he gives me nearly undoes me. I glance around the chamber, pretending to inspect the departing members because looking directly at him has suddenly become dangerous for reasons that have nothing to do with magic.

“So what happens now?” I ask. “Do I get a fancy black robe? A mask? Is there a catalog of cool Veil ritual merch I can order online?”

“I’ll get you anything you want, Mercer. Just name it and it’s yours.” His mouth curves upward, amused, and—oh God—that smile. The one he almost never gives anyone else but now gives to me freely. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of this man.

“What about knives? Are those included in membership, or do I have to bring my own to meetings?” I ask.

“Arrangements can be made.”

“Good.” I grin. “I’d hate to discover I survived four deadly trials only to be denied the basic benefits package.”

He looks down at our joined hands, then back at me, the teasing quickly falling away as a look of surprised awe fills his face.

“I’ve wanted this for so long, I never thought you could feel the same way,” he says, shifting closer until there’s barely any space left between us, like he needs the contact to keep speaking. “Tell me I’m not dreaming this. That it isn’t some crazy, smoke-induced hallucination. Tell me this is real—you and me.”

This. Fucking. Man.

He stands there, only hours after nearly dying, newly burdened with the leadership of an ancient magical society, and somehow still offering me the one thing he has fought hardest to withhold his entire life—his heart.

I realize it’s finally time I give him mine.

I’ve spent months refusing to name what I feel for Silas, as though keeping the words locked inside me could somehow make them less true. But just a few hours ago, I chose him when it mattered most. I gave up everything I came here for rather than let him die. Maybe my actions have already said what I’ve been too afraid to admit, but it’s time to say it out loud.

“It’s real,” I whisper, a smile trembling at the corner of my mouth.

There is no dramatic swell of music. No lightning crashing outside. No change in the air beyond the candles flickering against the walls.

Just Silas. And me.

Finally telling each other the truth.