Aspen laughs, but it’s empty. “Haven’t I?”
And damn it, that question does something to me. Because it’s not just Aspen who feels it. It’s me. Every time Kaia’s shadows curl toward someone else first. Every time she hesitates before meeting my gaze. Every time I think about the moment she collapsed and I wasn’t fast enough.
It’s been clawing at me since that night in the corrupted forest. Since the berserker inside us awakened and we let the monsters out.
I thought whatever this was between us would snap into place after that, that it would settle the ache I’ve felt since the moment I met her. But it hasn’t. It’s only gotten worse.
Malrik leans against the railing, his silver eyes unreadable. “You felt it the second she went down, didn’t you?” His voice is quieter now, sharper. “Like something inside you broke.”
I don’t breathe. Because yes. I did.
Aspen swallows. His voice is rough when he finally speaks. “What are you saying?”
Malrik glances between us. “You both feel the connection to her. But it’s incomplete.”
A cold weight settles in my chest.
Aspen tenses beside me. “What do you mean?”
Malrik exhales, shaking his head. “You think this is just about Kaia? That it’s just her fate being decided?” He levels us both with a look. “You felt it. You both did.”
Neither of us answer. We don’t have to.
Malrik nods like he already knew. “The ache in your chest? The pull that’s only getting stronger? It’s not just in your head.” His gaze sharpens. “It’s a bond. An ancient one.”
I stiffen.
Aspen swears under his breath, dragging a hand down his face.
Malrik keeps going. “She doesn’t just need one of us. She needs all of us.”
A flicker of movement catches my eye, Walter, that strange shadow who’s been following Kaia, drifts between us like smoke. He pauses, bobbing in the air as if considering something, before splitting into multiple copies of himself. Each shadow-Walter hovers near one of us before merging back together with what feels suspiciously like satisfaction.
Malrik’s words about needing all of us, combined with Walter’s perfect demonstration of many becoming one, hit me like a punch to the gut. The shadow is literally showing us what Malrik just explained, multiple bonds forming into something greater.
And suddenly, everything clicks.
The ache.
The pull.
The thing that never settled.
Kaia isn’t just ours.
We are hers.
Chapter 16
Kieran
Kieran
Kaia stands on the balcony, staring out at the storm rolling over the distant mountains. The wind pulls at her hair, stirring her shadows, making them drift and shift with purpose. She’s tense. I can see it in the way she grips the stone railing, in the rigid set of her shoulders.
She knows I’m here.
She’s known since I stepped into the room.
