His jaw twitched, but instead of rising to thebait, he shook his head. Oh. He wasn’t joking. Not this time. Something in my chest stuttered. Against my better judgment, I slid back down onto the edge of the bed, pulling my knees up and muttering, “Alright, then. I’m all ears.”
His gaze locked on me. “You’ve noticed my aura.”
Every muscle in me wanted to roll my eyes, but I caught myself, barely. My teeth sank into my lip instead. “Noticed? Try blinded by it,” I muttered, then waved him on with a flick of my hand. “Fine. Enlighten me.”
His voice dropped lower, almost reverently, but still carried an undertone of iron. “I've already told you we used to be different. We were golden—burning bright with what we thought was endless power. We were Arkhevari, and we were whole.” His gaze unfocused for a moment, like he could still see that past shining back at him. “But it was not enough. We hungered for more knowledge, more strength. And so, we descended into the Dark Abyss.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you already told me all that, you lost your Aelyth, you were cursed, you battle all the time,” I rolled my eyes for good measure, and my tone was dripping with a sarcasm I couldn’t quite choke back. “Sounds cheerful.”
His eyes flicked back to me, unimpressed.
I shrugged. “Go on. I’m listening. Really.”
“The Dark Abyss gave us what we asked for,” he continued, undeterred, “but it stripped away what made us golden. It left us dark. Immortal, yes, but at a cost. We lost our light. Our shine.”
I exhaled through my nose. “Yeah, you told me thatpart already, too. Gold guys go down, come back broody, immortal, and moody as hell.” I tipped my head, unable to resist. “Which explains a lot, actually.”
His eyes narrowed, like he expected my mockery but refused to let it deflect him.
“Yes,” he said evenly. “I told you what we became. Gold turned to shadow. Immortal but… altered.” He paused, the silence stretching taut. “But I did not tell you what it still costs.”
Something in his voice made me still.
“It is not only the Dark Abyss,” he said. His eyes turned hard as cut onyx; all traces of the amber I thought I saw earlier were gone. “The Mmuhr’Rhong press against us always, their corruption claws at the edges of what we are. And without our Aelyth—without the balance we were created to share—we have no anchor. Every want, every surge of power, every moment of weakness becomes another opening for them. To fight, to kill, to claim, that is the only way to keep them at bay.”
His gaze flicked over me, and his jaw locked. “And to want you, Ella… that hunger is no different. It leaves me exposed. To them. To the abyss. To the part of me I can no longer trust.”
My throat went dry.Oh.
“So that’s why,” I whispered before I could stop myself. “Why you broke your promise?”
His eyes met mine, and bluntly he asked. “Would you have preferred I kept it? Risked becoming nothing but the black, or worse, their vessel, while I was insideyou?”
Heat shot to my face, but not from embarrassment—fury, confusion, and longing shot through me all at once. I bit my lip hard, forcing myself not to look away.
“You could have said that,” I muttered, waving my hand at him like I was shooing away smoke. “Instead of leaving me here all alone, again."
"You weren't alone, I was here the whole night," he contradicted, and I shot him a scathing glare, which he deflected with smugness.
The smugness didn’t last. Not this time. His expression softened, grew intent in a way that made the air feel heavier.
“So now what?” I asked, keeping my voice lower, matching his seriousness despite myself.
For once, there was no smirk on his lips. Only truth. “Now… you complete me.” His hand flexed at his side, as if the words cost him. “I can already feel it. The change.”
I blinked, caught off guard. “Change?”
His jaw dipped in a firm nod. “The gold returns more often. The black recedes.”
“You mean your eyes,” I blurted before I could stop myself. “They turn amber when you’re not brooding like some cosmic gargoyle.”
That actually startled him. His brows lifted, and genuine surprise broke through his godlike mask. “You saw it.”
“Hard not to,” I muttered, my throat suddenly tight.
He exhaled, steadying himself. “Then you understand why I must take you to the Council of Seven.”
My stomach dropped. “Council of what now?”
