Aspen runs a hand through his hair, frost still clinging to his fingertips. “She needs space.”
Kieran’s hands twitch like he wants to move, wants to follow her, but knows better. The golden light in his eyes dims slightly—regret, maybe, or just exhaustion.
I sigh dramatically, throwing my hands up. “Fine. I’ll do it.”
Malrik gives me a look, shadows coiling tighter around him. “You sure that’s wise?”
I shrug, forcing my usual grin even though it feels like broken glass. “Nope. But someone has to, and I’m apparently the least likely to get murdered on sight.”
“Finn,” Aspen calls as I turn toward the exit. His voice is tight with concern, ice crystals still floating around him like tiny stars. “Be careful. She’s not just angry. She’s hurt.”
I nod, more serious than usual. “I know.”
The bond in my chest thrums with Kaia’s pain, her rage, her grief. It’s like carrying someone else’s broken heart alongside my own.
“And Finn?” Torric’s voice stops me at the threshold. When I look back, his fire rune pulses once, bright and fierce. “If she wants to burn this whole place down… well, I’ve got plenty of fire to spare.”
Despite everything, I feel my grin turn genuine. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
And with that, I turn and head toward the garden, chaos magic sparking anxiously around me.
Time to see if Kaia’s in the mood to murder me. With my luck, she probably is.
Chapter 24
Kaia
Kaia
I feel him coming before I hear his footsteps. The bond pulses with his presence, a chaotic energy that somehow feels steadying despite everything else churning inside me. My shadows ripple in recognition, but I don't turn around.
"If you're here to defend him," I say quietly, "don't."
"Wouldn't dream of it." Finn's voice carries that familiar lightness, but underneath I can feel the turmoil he's trying to hide. "Pretty sure he deserves everything you're feeling right now. And then some."
I let out a shaky breath, staring at the impossibly clear water of the pool. "You can feel it too, can't you? All of it?"
"Yeah." He moves closer, careful but not hesitant. "Gotta say, you've got quite the emotional range there, Trouble. The rage is impressive, but it's the heartbreak that's really doing me in."
"I'm not heartbroken," I snap, but we both know it's a lie. The bond makes lying impossible now.
"No?" His reflection appears beside mine in the water as he settles at the pool's edge. "Because what I'm feeling through this thing suggests otherwise."
My shadows coil tighter, restless and agitated. Mouse presses against my leg, a warm anchor in the storm of emotions. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Good thing I'm not here to make you talk." He drops down to sit beside me, his usual manic energy somehow muted. "I'm just here to remind you that you're not alone in this mess."
"Even though none of us had a choice?"
"Especially because none of us had a choice." His green eyes meet mine in the reflection. "Look, what Kieran did? It was wrong. But these bonds? They were already there, Kaia. We all felt it building. He just..." He runs a hand through his auburn hair, frustration bleeding through the connection. "He took away our chance to choose when. How."
I close my eyes, fighting against the fresh wave of grief that threatens to overwhelm me. "It was supposed to be beautiful."
"It still can be."
"How?" The word comes out raw, scraping my throat. "How can it be beautiful when it was forced on us?"
"Because the bond forming and what we choose to do with it are two different things," Finn says softly, and something in his voice makes me look at him directly. He's watching me with none of his usual mischief, just quiet understanding that aches through our connection. "He might have forced the timing, but he can't force what happens next. That's still ours."
