The thought sends a spike of something cold through my gut. "She's in pain too?"
Serai's expression softens. "If she's human, she likely doesn't understand what she's feeling. But yes. The bond doesn't distinguish between xaphan and human. Once it starts forming, it affects both parties equally."
Fuck.
I close my fingers around the pendant, the chain biting into my palm. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet." She tilts her head, studying me with that unsettling intensity again. "What will you do when you find her?"
"Bring her home."
"And if she doesn't want to come?"
The question hangs in the air between us, sharp and uncomfortable.
I meet Serai's gaze, holding it. "She will."
Because she has to.
Because I felt the way she clung to me in that garden. Heard the way she said my name like it was the only word that mattered. Saw the fear in her eyes when she ran—not fear of me, but fear of something else. Someone else.
She didn't leave because she wanted to.
She left because she thought she had to.
And I'm going to prove her wrong.
Serai's lips curve into a faint smile. "The bond has made you possessive."
"The bond has made me desperate."
"Good." She steps back, folding her hands in front of her. "Desperation will serve you better than arrogance. Just remember—she's not an object to be claimed, Lorenth. She's a person. A partner. Treat her as such."
I bite back the instinctive retort that rises in my throat.
Serai knows me too well. Knows the way I was raised—trained to command, to control, to see everything as a battle to be won. And maybe she's right. Maybe I do need the reminder.
But it doesn't change the fact that Senna ismine.
The bond made that clear.
I just need to find her and make sure she understands it too.
I slip the pendant over my head, tucking it beneath my shirt so the stone rests against my chest. The warmth of it pulses faintly, and I swear I can feel it tugging—just slightly—toward the east.
Toward wherever she is.
"Go," Serai says quietly. "Before the bond tears you both apart."
I don't need to be told twice.
I turn and stride out of the chamber, through the temple, and back into the afternoon sunlight. The city sprawls around me—thousands of people, hundreds of streets, endless places to hide—but for the first time in two weeks, I don't feel lost.
I feel focused.
Because the pendant is warm against my skin, and the pull in my chest is finally pointing in a direction instead of justaching.
I spread my wings and launch into the air, letting the wind carry me higher as I follow the faint tug of magic.
