“You always have a choice,” he snapped, grabbing her chin, and forcing her to look at him. His eyes were wild, blazing with such anger it made her flinch. “And you chose to throw yourself into that damn lake like you had nothing left to lose.”
Elara wrenched her face from his grasp, glaring through the tears. “You think I want to die? That I wantedthis? I’m doing this for you—for Thane. Because someone has to.”
“And I’m trying to keep you alive, but you’re making it impossible.”
She lifted her chin despite the ache in her chest. “I’m not trying tokillmyself.”
“Aren’t you?” He crouched down, his face inches from hers. “And forwhat? A memory? A fragment of something that might not even help?”
“We need it. If we’re ever going to reach him, we need every advantage we can get.”
“You think I don’t know that?” His voice dropped to a deadly whisper. “You think I haven’t considered every possible way to get him back?” His face hardened, jaw clenching so tightly she could hear the crack of his teeth. “You’re a fool,” he muttered, standing abruptly, his body towering over her. “You’re reckless, selfish—and a fool.”
Elara staggered to her feet, her knees trembling but her voice steady. “I don’t care what you think of me. I don't care what happens to me.”
“Well, I do!” he snarled, a hint of desperation bleeding through the fury.
She stopped breathing.
The Hunter looked away, his hands curling into fists, knuckles white, but he didn’t move. For a moment, she thought he might walk away, put distance between himself and what he’d just admitted, but then his voice came out cold, controlled. “You didn’t think. You never think, not when it matters. You can’thelpanyoneif you’re dead. You can’t bring Thane back if you’re gone.”
She winced, an ache curling tight in her chest. “I—Iknow. But I have to try. Time’s running out, and the spell… it’s nowhere near ready. We need at least another week to fine-tune it.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t just sit here?—”
“No, Hallowed,” he cut her off. “I won’tjustsit here and watch you destroy yourself. I told you before—that’s not how this ends.”
His words hit her harder than she expected, tightening her throat, forcing her to swallow the sudden knot of emotion. He stepped closer. “Next time,” he said, “you tell me. You don’t go off alone, and you sure as hell don’t risk your life without knowing exactly what it’ll cost.”
“I know the cost.”
“Do you?” he asked, his tone biting, but his eyes… they told another story.
Desperate. Defeated. Pleading, even.
She didn’t know what to do with it. That look. That break in the armor she’d never thought she’d see. It made her want to step closer and pull away all at once.
He tore his gaze away, his expression hardening, becoming distant. Silence stretched between them, thick and bitter, pressing in on her until it felt like she couldn’t breathe.
“Why do you serve him?” The words slipped out, fragile, nearly swallowed by the night. But she needed to know. She couldn’t reconcile the man in front of her with the image she had built—ruthless, cold, and yet now he’d just admitted he cared for her.
He needs you for his brother, her mind whispered, but that explanation felt too simple. There was more to it; she could feel it. A tightness throbbed in her chest, winding tighter and tighter until she forced herself to breathe again, and it eased ever soslightly. But it wasn’t her pain—she realized that now. It was his. The ache, the anger, the frustration—she had been feeling him all along.
“Why the sudden interest?” His tone was frigid,mocking, and it sent a chill through her. But his eyes were searching her face, hunting for something.
She refused to look away. “Because you’re not what you pretend to be. You follow Osin’s orders, no questions asked, but then you go and do something like this. Help me.”
He snorted, a dark, humorless sound. “Help you? Don’t be naive. Alive, you serve a purpose. Dead…” His mouth pressed into a hard line, the tension clear, but his voice didn’t quite carry the same conviction.
“Right,” she said, “just a tool, then?”
He stiffened, his expression hardening. “In war, we use every weapon at our disposal. Knowledge is power, and in my line of work, power is everything. We’re all tools, Hallowed. Don’t mistake your importance for something personal.”
The words hit harder than they should have, and she cursed herself for it.
Stupid. What had she expected?
Gods, why had she even asked?
“Well,” she muttered, her voice colder now. “Good to know my usefulness hasn’t run out just yet.”
