Lyra leans in. “You don’t worry over things you don’t care about, Mara. And gods, have you beenworrying.”
My breath catches. Because she’s right. And I’m done being miserable.
Fenric kisses the top of my head. “You’ve been brave enough to fight everything else. Maybe it’s time to stop fighting him. Go to him.”
Lyra says something about dying of secondhand sexual tension—but I’m already pulling myself from their hold.
I see him already halfway across the training field. Back straight, shoulders tight, every step precise and controlled.
I start running. I don’t make it far before her voice brushes into my mind.
“Be gentle with him, Virelya,”
Calryx.
Warm. Familiar. But something’s off . . . strained.
I keep moving, my boots now slamming into the dirt path, dust rising in my wake. The training field blurs at the edges—faces and voices are all background noise. The only thing in focus is him.
The bond pulls tighter with every step, a thread hooking deeper into my chest, urging me forward.
“He is afraid.”
That stops me.
“Afraid of what?”I ask.
A pause.
“Of what this means. Of what it could cost . . . of you.”
My chest tightens.
“Of what it could costme? Calryx, that doesn’t make any sense.”
“Virelya, it is not my place to explain everything to you.”
Something tightens in my chest. I don’t respond. Because if I do, I might not have the courage to speak to him. And right now, I need to stay focused.
Calryx doesn’t push me. She lets me run, lets me chase him down.
“Thane!”
Godsdammit, hedoesn’t stop.
He’s almost to the far gate when I cut through a sparring circle, ignoring the startled shouts. My shoulder brushes past one of the soldiers but I don’t slow. I’m running too fast to stop when I reach him, so instead, I grab his arm hard enough that he jolts, momentum spinning him toward me. My palm meets skin and heat, and the bond flares—sharp, sudden, alive.
Smoke-gray eyes lock on mine, cool and guarded. But I know him now.
Behind that stare something’s fraying.
“Talk to me,” I demand.
His jaw tightens. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
Barely a flicker in his expression. “It was just a sparring match, Amara.”
