Page 70 of Shadows Rising

Like the end of a story I never got to finish.

My Little Shadow. She doesn’t even know I still think of her that way. Doesn’t remember what it meant.

“I felt her choose,” I say quietly, the words tasting like ash.

Thorne sets down his pen. “Darian—”

“No pity.” My voice comes out sharper than intended. “I knew what I was when I made the deal. This is just… confirmation.”

He studies me for a long moment. “You could still—”

“Could still what?” I meet his gaze, letting him see whatever’s left of the man I used to be. “Win her back with my sparkling personality? Seduce her with my unwavering loyalty to the man who wants to destroy everything she cares about?”

The silence stretches between us.

“She chose,” I repeat, softer this time. “And it wasn’t me. It will never be me.”

And for the first time since this whole nightmare began, that feels like the truth.

It should be liberating.

It’s not.

Chapter 34

Torric

Packing should be simple.

Clothes. Weapons. Whatever supplies I need to not die in whatever hellscape we're walking into. Done.

Instead, my hands move without thought—rolling fabric, checking straps, adjusting weight—while my brain runs in circles, desperate to find something solid.

The bond won't shut up. Every few seconds it pulses, reminding me what just happened. What Ifeltwhen Kaia and Aspen—

Fuck.

I slam the pack harder than necessary, the sound echoing off stone walls. My fire rune burns beneath my shirt, responding to frustration I can't shake loose.

Kaia chose Aspen.

Not fate. Not prophecy. Not some cosmic arrangement none of us had a say in.

Her.

The thought sits in my chest like a coal I can't spit out. For months I've been telling myself this bond thing was inevitable. That whatever happened between us didn't matter because destiny would sort it out anyway. That I didn't need to risk anything because it was all predetermined.

Bullshit.

She chose him. Which means she could choose any of us.

Or none of us.

My hands freeze on the pack's straps. The possibility I've been avoiding crashes over me—what if I've been waiting for something that was never mine to begin with? What if all my careful distance, all my reasons for not pushing, not claiming space, not being another complication in her already complicated life… what if it just made me invisible?

The fire rune flares, heat spreading across my chest. I need to move. Need air. Need something other than this room and these thoughts eating me alive.

The main hall buzzes with preparation when I arrive. Kieran's people loading packs, sharpening weapons, moving with the focused energy that comes before walking into danger. But I barely register any of it.