My girlfriend is trapped in my superpower

Kael's POV

The air warped with heat. Every breath scorched my throat as the creature dragged one clawed hand across the cobblestones, leaving glowing scars in the stone. Its molten eyes locked on me alone, ignoring Bram, Mira, the guards—everyone.

Bram cursed under his breath. "Why does it always have to be Kael?"

Mira stepped forward anyway, blade already humming with runes. "Because whatever it is… it knows what's inside him."

Her words sank like lead. Lyra stirred, her voice dripping with mockery inside my head.

"Congrats, flame-boy. You're officially popular. Even nightmare lava beasts are lining up to kill you."

"Not helping," I muttered.

"Oh, but I am," she purred. "That thing? It doesn't want the guild. Doesn't want your friends. It wants me. Which means it wants you. So unless you're planning on dying spectacularly, you'd better let me stretch my legs."

The guards scrambled to form a line, spears raised though their hands shook. The road glowed beneath the monster's feet as it finally spoke, its voice like stone grinding against stone.

"Pyrrhale." One of the guild members muttered.

The name burned in my ears. Even Lyra went quiet.

The ground buckled as the Pyrrhale lunged, a molten blur, claws slashing wide enough to shear through stone and steel alike.

"Scatter!" Mira shouted, pushing Bram aside as the monster's strike ripped through the street, leaving a fissure of bubbling magma.

My hands burned with uncontrolled light. I forced myself to stay rooted, though my heart thundered in my ears. "It's after me. I can't run."

Lyra's laughter curled in his head, hot and merciless. "Finally, some fun. Let's show the walking volcano what real fire tastes like."

The guild guards thrust their spears, but the Pyrrhale swatted them like insects, sending men crashing into walls with bone-snapping cracks. Its molten chest glowed brighter, swelling with pressure.

"Kael!" Bram yelled. "It's charging something—"

Too late. Pyrrhale's maw opened, belching a torrent of fire that turned the air into a furnace.

My instincts screamed. My arms raised of their own accord, Lyra's power spilling out, black-purple flames forming a shield. The Voidflame hissed as the firestorm struck it, reality itself seeming to bend at the clash.

'Ohhh," Lyra moaned, her tone darkly playful. "Now that's more like it. Push harder, Kael. Don't just block—burn it back."

I grit my teeth, sweat streaming. "If I let you out—can you stop it?"

"Sweetheart," she whispered, "I don't stop things. I end them."

The ground beneath him cracked as the Voidflame surged, waiting for my command. The shield cracked, splinters of Voidflame scattering like shards of night itself. My arms trembled. I couldn't hold it anymore.

The Pyrrhale's firestorm roared, pressing me down, forcing the breath out of my lungs. My knees buckled.

"Pathetic," Lyra purred inside me, her voice thick with heat. "You'll break before the beast does. Give me the reins, Kael. One word. Just one."

I shut my eyes, teeth grinding. Every instinct screamed don't. But I remembered the panic in Mira's eyes. Bram's hand gripping his dagger, useless against a mountain of flame. The guild guards broken, scattered. If I didn't—everyone burned.

My lips parted, the word scraping out like it had been waiting there all along.

"Ignite."

The world went black for a heartbeat. Then she was there.

Lyra burst free from my chest in a blaze of violet fire, her form half-solid, half-wrapped in flames that warped the air. Her hair whipped like molten silk, her golden eyes gleaming with unholy delight.

"Ahhh, freedom," she purred, stretching, her laughter rolling like thunder. "You have no idea how good it feels to breathe outside your ribs again."

I staggered back, clutching my chest, the searing connection between us still thrumming. She wasn't just standing there—she was me and not me, every ember from her body tethered to my veins. If she burned, I would too.

"Lyra…" My voice shook. "Don't—don't lose control."

She glanced over her shoulder, smirking, hair flickering violet at the tips. "Lose control? Darling, this is control."

Then she turned her full attention to the Pyrrhale.

The monster shrieked, its molten wings flaring wide, fire cascading like a living storm. Even the stones beneath us glowed red. But Lyra didn't flinch. She walked straight into the inferno, flames licking her skin like worshippers to a queen.

"Cute trick," she said, lifting her hand. "Now watch a real fire."

Her palm erupted in black-violet flame, so hot the air screamed. With a snap of her fingers, the storm bent, twisted—and collapsed inward. The Pyrrhale staggered, its massive form shrinking against the crushing pull of her fire, scales blistering under her glow.

I gasped, my knees almost buckling again. "What… what are you doing?"

"Finishing what you started." Her grin was wicked, her eyes alive with battle-lust. "Now stop whining and enjoy the show."

The beast roared, tail smashing down like a meteor. Lyra caught it—caught it—with one flaming hand. And then she pulled. The ground cracked open beneath us.

The earth split under Lyra's pull, molten veins of fire spilling like open wounds in the ground. The Pyrrhale thrashed, wings beating so violently the shockwaves knocked trees flat in the distance.

But Lyra only laughed. Laughed.

"You think you own fire?" she taunted, her voice carrying like an echo across worlds. "You're nothing but a cheap imitation."

The flames around her shifted color—violet bleeding into pitch black, eating the light itself. The temperature spiked so high, my lungs rebelled just trying to breathe. My vision blurred. Every nerve screamed, but I couldn't look away.

The Pyrrhale lunged, maw gaping, lava dripping from its jaws. Lyra met it head-on, her arm plunging into its mouth as though shoving fire back down its throat.

"Burn properly," she hissed. Then she detonated.

The sky went white.

I dropped to my knees, shielding my eyes, but it wasn't enough. The explosion tore across the clearing, vaporizing trees, stone, even the air itself. For one terrifying heartbeat, I thought she'd destroyed everything—including me.

When the light receded, Lyra still stood there, flames dancing off her shoulders like a crown.

The Pyrrhale, though…

The monster writhed, its once-titanic form reduced to a staggering hulk. Its wings had burned down to charred stumps, scales melted into black crusts. And still it tried to roar, tried to fight.

Lyra tilted her head, almost bored. "Persistent little lizard, aren't you?"

She raised her other hand, gathering a sphere of voidflame so dense the ground around her buckled and collapsed into dust. The sheer pressure made my teeth ache.

"Lyra—stop!" I forced myself to my feet, staggering toward her. "You'll kill yourself—and me with you!"

Her eyes flicked back to me, molten amethyst, sharp and dangerous. But then her smile softened, just a fraction.

"Oh, Kael," she murmured. "You still don't understand. This is who I am."

And with a flick of her wrist, she hurled the sphere straight at the Pyrrhale.

The monster shrieked, its body imploding into ash before it could even fall. The blast ripped through the forest, leaving only a vast, scorched crater where life had been.

I stumbled backward, chest heaving. My ears rang. My body burned from the inside out, every vein on fire. She hadn't just borrowed my body—she had siphoned me.

Lyra turned slowly, her expression smug and wild all at once, like a goddess stepping off her throne. "And that, darling, is how you deal with pests."

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. My vision tunneled as the bond between us flared too bright.

And then— Darkness swallowed me whole.