He doesn’t look at Tamsin. His gaze is on me like I'm the only one in the room. He strides toward me like the world is ending and I’m the reason why.
My pulse jumps, but not from fear. From fury.
“Exploring,” I snap, yanking my hand from the book. “Last I checked, that wasn’t a crime.”
His eyes narrow, brittle as shattered glass. “You keep walking into places you don’t understand, touching things that could kill you—and you don’t stop. Do you enjoy trying to get yourself killed?”
I take a step toward him, chin lifted. “Oh, I’m sorry—was I supposed to just leave it alone? Pretend like I didn’t feel it calling to me?”
His wings flare slightly, his jaw tightening. “You don’t understand what you’re messing with.”
“Then explain it!” I fire back. “Because I’m tired of not knowing what the hell is happening to me.”
He closes the last of the distance between us, voice dropping low. “You think this is a game? You think the Veil calls to just anyone? You could’ve torn something open just now. You could’ve died.”
“I didn’t,” I say, staring up at him, pulse hammering. “And maybe I’m not afraid of what’s coming.”
“You should be.”
We’re chest to chest now. Breathing the same ragged air. His expression shifts—not softened exactly, but something cold in it gives way. His bare hand lifts, almost without thought, and his thumb brushes along my cheekbone.
The second his skin touches mine, it hits.
Veil magic stirs again—slow and ancient and knowing. Not wild like the tether with Raiden. This is different. Deeper. Quieter. Like something waking up inside of me that recognizes him.
His eyes darken. His hand lingers. My breath freezes as my stomach dips. Shit. Is he going to kiss me?
But he just whispers, “You don’t know what you are.”
“Um, hate to break up whatever weird soul-gazing moment this is,” Tamsin says from behind us, dry amusement ringing in her words, “but if this place starts collapsing or exploding, I’d really prefer not to be collateral damage in your magical foreplay.”
I jolt back, heat flooding my cheeks. Kael’s hand falls away, but he doesn’t react to her tone. His eyes stay locked on mine.
“Stay out of places that hum with death,” he says. “Next time, I might not get there in time. And Raiden obviously can’t be trusted to keep you out of trouble.”
And then, without another word, he turns, steps through the same ripple in the air he came from, and vanishes like a shadow swallowed by the dark.
Tamsin exhales. “Okay. That was...hot. Also terrifying. Also—what the actual void, Lindsay?”
I shake my head; I actually don't know.
We slip through the Forbidden Wing’s cracked archway in silence at first. My pulse is still thundering from the rush of Veil magic—and from him.
Tamsin’s the one who breaks it.
“So…” she says slowly, glancing sideways at me. “You wanna tell me what just happened back there, or should I just assume that broody demon boy shows up anytime you’re about to explode?”
I rub the back of my neck. “He does seem to show up. Like he’s got a sixth sense for me doing something dangerous.”
“Why did you touch the book?”
“I didn’t mean to,” I mutter. “It…called to me.”
Tamsin snorts. “Right. Magical grimoires are seductive like that. Next time maybe make it buy you a drink first.”
I nudge her with my elbow, but the smile is short-lived. “There was a surge when I touched it. Like everything inside me lit up at once. Worse than Combat Casting. Worse than the Dueling Pit. And when I looked up…Kael was just there.”
She hums. “Yeah, about that—how did he even get there? Is he tracking you now? Should I be worried you’ve got some kind of shadow stalker kink?”
