Jane's breathing had finally slowed.
She rested against Levi, eyes half-lidded, exhaustion pulling at her limbs. The corridor lights dimmed automatically, responding to the lowered energy levels in the room. For a moment, it felt like the world had narrowed to the space between them.
Then Jane hissed softly.
Levi felt it immediately—the slight jolt through Jane's body, the way her metal arm twitched unnaturally.
"Jane?" Levi pulled back just enough to look at her. "What is it?"
"My arm," Jane murmured. "It's… not responding right."
The faint hum of the prosthetic had changed pitch, rising unevenly. Purple light flickered beneath Jane's skin near the metal interface, where witchcraft and technology met something far older.
Levi frowned. "May I?"
Jane nodded.
Levi carefully took Jane's robotic arm in both hands. The metal was cool, but beneath it, Levi could feel heat radiating—dragon fire pressing against the limits of engineered design.
"This arm was made for witchcraft," Levi said quietly. "Not for dragon blood."
Jane swallowed. "So I'm breaking it too."
"No," Levi replied firmly. "It's adapting. Just… painfully."
She focused, letting a controlled thread of demonic energy flow from her palms—not forceful, not overwhelming. The runes etched faintly into Jane's arm responded, stabilizing as shadow and heat found equilibrium.
Jane gasped softly as the pain eased.
"Oh," she whispered. "That… helped."
Levi allowed herself a small, relieved breath. "Your power is changing how everything around you works. Including this."
Jane looked down at their joined hands—Levi's dark fingers wrapped around steel and skin alike. "You're not afraid of it."
"Of you?" Levi shook her head. "Never."
Jane laughed weakly. "I don't know how you can be so sure."
Levi met her gaze. They were close now—closer than before. Jane could see the faint cracks in Levi's composure, the vulnerability she showed no one else.
"Because," Levi said softly, "I have already lost a kingdom by doubting myself. I won't lose you by doubting my heart."
Jane's breath caught.
"…Levi."
The space between them felt fragile, charged. Jane leaned in slightly without realizing it. Levi didn't pull away. Their foreheads brushed, breaths mingling, the moment stretching thin as glass.
Jane's eyes flicked to Levi's lips.
Levi noticed.
For just a second—only a second—she considered closing the distance.
Instead, she rested her forehead gently against Jane's. "When this is over," Levi whispered, "when you're safe… we'll take this slowly."
Jane smiled, a little shaky but sincere. "I'd like that."
Her metal arm finally stilled, the glow fading to a quiet ember.
Then—
an alarm chimed. Low. Sharp. Wrong.
Levi stiffened instantly.
Jane felt it too—a sudden surge deep in her chest, dragon blood reacting violently. The lights flickered. Her veins shimmered again, brighter than before.
"No," Jane whispered. "Not again—"
Levi stood, wings tensing. "Someone is probing the perimeter."
Mira's voice crackled over the intercom. "Levi. Jane. We're detecting a resonance spike. Dragon-based."
Levi's jaw tightened.
"Shax," she said coldly.
Jane clenched her robotic hand, fear and resolve warring in her chest. "Then he knows about me."
Levi turned back to her, placing one steady hand over Jane's heart. "Listen to me. Whatever you are becoming—it does not belong to him."
Jane nodded, eyes glowing faintly as fire stirred beneath her skin.
"I won't let him take me," she said. "Not again."
Levi smiled—proud, fierce, protective.
"That's my little witch."
Outside, Technopolis pulsed unaware.
Inside, steel and flame prepared to stand together.
---
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