His eyes narrowed.
“You cannot steal one,” she said simply. “It was left for you, as it was Written. That is the only reason you could step through our shields.”
Sebastian looked ready to throw something. Or stab someone. Kara wasn’t sure which. He took another angry step forward.
“Sebastian, stop,” Kara said, laying a hand on his arm before turning to Veyra. “You’re saying we have to Soulbond. That’s what all of this has been about?”
Veyra clasped her hands in front of her. Her face showed no sign of regret. “Yes. The Shards of the Arcanth will remain fragments without it. They require souls bound as one to unite. That is the only way.”
Sebastian sheathed his sword with a violent snap. “No.”
Kara looked up at him. “What?”
“I won’t do it,” he said, hard-edged and final. He turned away.
“Wait–” Kara said, reaching for him.
He pulled away again. “I’m not a pawn. Not theirs, not yours, not anyone’s.”
“Please–” Her voice cracked. “Just listen–”
But he was already moving towards the corridor, back to the main doors. He refused to look at her. Her heart sank.
“Whether you Soulbond or not, war is coming, Warrior,” Veyra called after him.
He didn’t stop. “I want no part of this.”
He shoved open the doors and disappeared into the night.
The silence that followed was absolute.
Kara took a step to follow him, and then froze, still trying to process everything she had just been told. The faintest sigh slipped from Veyra, like this had been expected.
“You let him go,” Kara said.
“I do not think it wise for me to try to stop him right now, do you?” Veyra replied mildly.
No. I don’t know what he’d do.
Kara dropped onto a chair at the table with Veyra, her mind racing. Both women were quiet for a long time. When Veyra spoke again, she sounded level, composed. “It was... unfortunate, the path you had to take. I wish it could have been avoided.”
“Unfortunate?” Kara let out a humourless laugh as her hands shook.
“You think your path was cruel. Perhaps it was.” Veyra took a breath. “The soldier who took you to the pyre–”
“Cade,” Kara said. She wouldn’t be afraid of his name forever.
Regret shifted in Veyra’s face. “Yes. Him, I did not See.”
“How is that possible?” Bitterness crept into her voice. “You saw everything else.”
“I am not infallible,” Veyra said. “I saw flames. I saw Sebastian reach you in time... I looked no further.”
“You saw me survive. So you stopped.”
Veyra nodded. “Your survival was certain. Though I accept it may not have felt like that to you. I learned what you had endured only afterwards. From my Watchers in the City.”
Kara said nothing.
