The Shadow Merchant's Bargain

A bond for now.

The marketplace reeked of sulfur and desperation. Sera pulled her cloak tighter as she navigated between stalls selling bottled screams and crystallized heartbreak.

The Shadow Market only appeared during the new moon, when the veil between worlds grew thin enough for the desperate to find it.

And Sera was nothing if not desperate.

"Looking for something specific, little witch?" The voice was smooth as aged whiskey, with an accent she couldn't place.

Sera turned to find a man leaning against a stall draped in midnight blue silk. He was tall, lean, with sharp cheekbones that could cut glass and eyes the color of storm clouds. Dark hair fell in waves to his shoulders, and when he smiled, she glimpsed fangs.

"Not human, then. That made this either much easier or infinitely more complicated."

"I need a death curse reversed," she said, cutting straight to business. "A strong one. Cast by a master necromancer."

His eyebrows rose with genuine surprise. "Ambitious. And expensive." He gestured to his stall, where shadows seemed to writhe and dance in glass bottles. "I'm Kieran, purveyor of forbidden magics and impossible solutions. And you are?"

"Dying," she said flatly. "I have maybe three weeks before the curse consumes what's left of my life force."

Kieran's expression shifted, the predatory merchant mask slipping to reveal something almost like concern. "Show me."

Sera hesitated, then pushed back her sleeve. Black veins crawled up her arm like twisted vines, pulsing with dark energy that made the air around her shimmer with heat. Where the curse marks touched her skin, it had turned ashen gray.

"Gods above and below," Kieran breathed, his fingers hovering over her arm without quite touching. "This is master work. Whoever cast this knew exactly what they were doing."

"Can you reverse it or not?"

He was quiet for a long moment, studying the curse with professional interest. "I can. But the price..."

"Name it."

"A year of your life. After the curse is broken, you'll owe me twelve months of service. Complete obedience, no questions asked."

Sera laughed bitterly. "What life? I'll be dead in three weeks."

"Not that kind of service," he said, and something in his tone made her look at him more carefully. "I need a partner. Someone with your particular talents."

"You don't know what my talents are."

"You found the Shadow Market. You survived long enough with a master's death curse to seek help instead of lying down to die. And..."

He reached out, his fingers brushing the air just above her curse marks. Power crackled between them, and Sera felt something deep in her chest respond to his magic. "You have enough raw magical potential to interest me."

The curse marks flared with pain, reminding her that time was running out. "Fine. One year of partnership in exchange for my life. Deal."

"Not so fast." Kieran pulled out a contract that materialized from shadow itself. "Read the terms."

Sera scanned the flowing script, her heart sinking with each line. The partnership clause was extensive, binding her not just to obedience but to something much more intimate. She would be linked to him magically, able to share power, thoughts, even emotions if the work required it.

"This is practically a marriage contract," she said.

"Business partnerships require trust," he said, but she caught the slight flush on his cheekbones. "The magic we'll be working together requires... compatibility."

"What kind of magic exactly?"

"The kind that pays well and pisses off all the right people." His grin was sharp and reckless. "I steal things, Sera. Specifically, I steal things from people who have too much power and not enough conscience. But some heists require two people, and they require partners who can share magic without killing each other."

The curse marks pulsed, and Sera felt another piece of her life force drain away. She was out of time and options.

"I'll do it." She pricked her finger with the ceremonial blade he offered and pressed her bloody thumbprint to the contract. "One year."

Kieran did the same, and the moment his blood joined hers on the parchment, power exploded between them. The contract burst into silver flames that raced up both their arms, sinking beneath their skin in spiraling patterns.

The pain was excruciating. Sera felt Kieran's magic pouring into her, seeking out the curse marks and burning them away from the inside. But more than that, she felt him.

His surprise at the strength of her power, his satisfaction at their compatibility, his carefully hidden loneliness, and underneath it all, a fierce protectiveness that had nothing to do with business.

When the flames died, the curse marks were gone. Sera's skin was whole and healthy, though silver lines now traced the same paths where the black veins had been. Matching marks spiraled up Kieran's right arm.

"That's not supposed to happen," she said, staring at the silver marks.

"No, it's not." Kieran looked almost as stunned as she felt. "The binding marks should be invisible."

"What does it mean?"

He was quiet for too long. "I'm not sure. But we should probably figure it out quickly. Your curse wasn't just broken, Sera. It was transferred."

"What?"

"The necromancer who cursed you? They're going to feel the backlash of their magic being reversed. They'll know you're alive, and they'll know you had help."

He started packing his stall with supernatural speed, shadows wrapping around bottles and crystals to tuck them into a bag that was clearly bigger on the inside. "How long until they track you down?"

Sera's blood went cold. "Hours. Maybe less. Viktor doesn't like loose ends."

"Viktor Draven?"

"You know him?"

Kieran's laugh was dark and entirely humorless. "Know him? Sweetheart, he's the reason I need a partner. We just stole his death curse right out from under his nose." He shouldered his bag and grabbed her hand. "Time to go."

They ran.

The Shadow Market dissolved around them as Kieran pulled her through a portal that opened in the air like a wound in reality. They tumbled out into a warehouse that smelled of old magic and newer wine.

"This is your home?" Sera asked, taking in the organized chaos of magical artifacts, stolen art, and books that hummed with power.

"One of them. We'll be safe here for now, but not for long." He was pacing, silver marks glowing faintly as he worked through their options. "Viktor will have sent trackers already. We need to move fast."

"Move where?"

"His vault. While he's busy hunting us, we're going to steal the one thing he values more than revenge."

Sera stared at him. "You want to rob the most dangerous necromancer in three kingdoms while he's actively trying to kill us?"

"The best time to rob someone is when they're not home." Kieran's grin was wild and infectious. "Besides, we're magically bonded now. We might as well put it to good use."

Despite everything, Sera found herself grinning back. "What are we stealing?"

"His heart."

She blinked. "Metaphorically?"

"Literally. Viktor removed his own heart years ago and stored it in a crystal to make himself immortal. It's the source of his power, and his greatest weakness."

Kieran pulled out a set of blueprints that looked like they'd been drawn with liquid starlight. "Destroy the heart, destroy Viktor. Save your life permanently, and make enough money to set us both up for the next century."

The silver marks on Sera's arm pulsed with warmth, and she could feel Kieran's excitement mixing with her own through their bond. This was insane. Impossible. Completely suicidal.

"When do we leave?"

His smile was brilliant. "Now."

They prepared quickly, Kieran pulling weapons and tools from hidden compartments while Sera tested their magical connection.

It was disorienting at first, feeling his emotions and thoughts threading through her mind, but also intoxicating. His magic complemented hers perfectly, shadow and flame dancing together like they'd been made to combine.

"The vault is warded against everything," Kieran explained as they suited up in black leather and spelled silk. "Except one thing Viktor never considered."

"Which is?"

"Love."

Sera's heart skipped. "What?"

"The vault responds to powerful emotions. Viktor designed it to repel hate, greed, fear, all the things that motivate thieves. But love..." He met her eyes, and she saw something vulnerable there. "Love is different. It doesn't take, it gives. The wards won't recognize it as a threat."

"And we're supposed to just manufacture love for each other?"

Kieran stepped closer, his hand coming up to cup her cheek. Through their bond, she felt his honesty like a physical touch. "I don't think we'll have to manufacture anything."

The kiss was inevitable. Sera felt like she'd been moving toward this moment since the first time their eyes met in the Shadow Market. His lips were warm and soft, and when their magic sparked between them, she tasted starlight and midnight and the wild freedom of stolen moments.

When they broke apart, both their silver marks were glowing.

"Well," she said breathlessly. "That's convenient."

They made their way through the city like shadows, their combined magic hiding them from mortal eyes and magical detection alike. Viktor's tower loomed against the skyline, black stone twisted into impossible spirals that hurt to look at directly.

The vault was at the very top, behind wards that made the air itself feel thick and hostile. But as Kieran had predicted, when they approached hand in hand, hearts open and magic intertwined, the barriers parted like curtains.

Viktor's heart hung in the center of the room, a crystal the size of a child's head that pulsed with dark red light. It was beautiful and terrible, and Sera could feel the necromancer's power radiating from it in waves.

"Together," Kieran whispered, and they raised their joined hands toward the crystal.

Their combined magic struck the heart in a lance of silver fire. The crystal cracked, then shattered, exploding in a burst of light that knocked them both to the ground.

In the distance, they heard Viktor's scream of rage and agony echo across the city.

"Is he dead?" Sera asked, helping Kieran to his feet.

"As dead as someone like him can be. The power that kept him immortal is gone. He's mortal now, and all the enemies he's made over the centuries will be coming for him." Kieran's smile was satisfied and sharp. "He'll be too busy running to bother with us."

They made their escape as the tower began to collapse behind them, Viktor's magic failing without his heart to power it. By dawn, they were back at the warehouse, splitting the bounty they'd claimed from the vault and trying to process everything that had happened.

"So," Sera said, examining the silver marks that still decorated her arm. "We're partners now. For real."

"For a year," Kieran agreed, but something in his voice made her look at him more carefully.

"The contract was for a year," she said slowly. "But these marks..."

"Are permanent," he finished. "I may have failed to mention that particular detail."

Sera stared at him, then started laughing. "You bound us together permanently and you didn't think to mention it?"

"In my defense, I didn't think it would work! Magical partnerships usually require years of trust and compatibility testing. We managed it in about six hours."

"So what does this mean, exactly?"

Kieran took her hands, his thumbs tracing over the silver marks on her wrists. "It means we're partners in every sense of the word. Magically, professionally, and..."

He hesitated, then seemed to gather his courage. "Romantically, if you want to be."

Sera thought about it. About the way their magic sang together, the way he'd risked everything to save her life, the way her heart had stopped when he kissed her. About the year of adventures ahead of them and the lifetime of possibilities beyond that.

"I can think of worse fates," she said, and kissed him again.

This time, when their silver marks flared with light, Sera felt nothing but joy.