“Bye, Ed,” I whisper. “Bye.”
The Gate pulses.
The Eds keep coming.
And I keep saying goodbye.
But now I know why I’m here.
Now I know what I’ve always been.
Not broken.
Not unstable.
Not wrong.
Hers.
Chapter 3
Malrik
I can’t stop watching him.
Finn stands at the edge of our group, shoulders curved inward like he’s trying to make himself smaller. The others have given him space — Torric a few feet to his left, Aspen just behind, Darian hovering with that uncertain light of his.
But I’m the one who can’t look away.
My shadow magic flickers at my edges, restless. Responding to something I haven’t let myself name yet.
The God’s words echo through my skull.
Your magic found her. Before you knew her name. Your power reached into the space between worlds and said here — come here — I’ve got you.
Finn. Chaotic, ridiculous, insufferable Finn.
The man who deflects pain with humor and hides heartbreak behind a smile.
He’s been holding Kaia together since he was a child. Carrying a weight none of us knew existed. Reaching across time and space for a girl he’d never met, tethering her to safety while everyone around him called him broken.
And he never said a word.
Never asked for help.
Never stoppedreaching.
Something clicks into place in my chest.
I breathe deep as recognition hits me.
I’m in love with him.
I don’t know when it started. Maybe the first time he made Kaia laugh when she was falling apart. Maybe the first time his chaos magic sparked against my shadows and I felt somethinganswer. Maybe it’s been building since the beginning and I was too focused on strategy, on survival, on Kaia to see it.
But I see it now.
I love Kaia with everything I am. That hasn’t changed. Won’t ever change.
