Page 71 of Shadows Rising

Because Kaia's there.

Standing too close to Aspen, their heads bent together over some map or supply list. She's smiling at something he said—that soft, unguarded expression I haven't seen directed at me in weeks. The easy familiarity between them makes my stomach clench.

I should look away. Walk past. Mind my own damn business.

Instead, I stand there like an idiot, watching them. Watchingher.

The hollow ache in my chest spreads, settling into my bones like cold I can't shake. This is what I get for being a coward. For assuming she'd just… wait for me to figure my shit out.

"You know she chose us long before we came here, right?"

Malrik's voice cuts through my spiral. I turn to find him leaning against a pillar, arms crossed, watching me with those unreadable silver eyes.

"What?" The word comes out rougher than I meant.

He nods toward Kaia and Aspen. "You're standing there like she just picked her favorite and threw the rest of us away."

My jaw tightens. "Didn't she?"

"You're an idiot."

"Thanks for the pep talk, prince."

But Malrik doesn't rise to the bait. Instead, he pushes off the pillar, stepping closer. "She chose all of us, Torric. Before the bonds. Before the Hall of Echoes. Before any of this became inevitable." His voice drops. "The only question is whether you're going to choose her back."

Something in my chest shifts, not the bond, something deeper. "And if she doesn't want me to?"

"Then you're an even bigger idiot than I thought."

Before I can snap back, Kaia glances up. Her violet eyes find mine across the room, and for a heartbeat, everything else disappears. No Aspen. No crowd. No complicated magical bonds tying us all together.

Just her, looking at me like I still matter.

The moment stretches, charged with possibility I've been too afraid to acknowledge. Then her mouth curves into a small smile. Not the soft one she gave Aspen, but something fiercer. Something that's just mine.

My fire rune pulses once, heat spreading through my chest. But this time it doesn't feel like frustration.

It feels like coming alive.

Maybe Malrik's right. Maybe she has been choosing me all along.

Time to stop being a coward and choose her back.

The fire inside me doesn't just burn now. It points. And this time, I'm following.

Chapter 35

Kaia

I’m supposed to be packing.

Instead, I’m standing in my room, staring at my empty travel bag like it might spontaneously fill itself through sheer force of wishful thinking.

“Okay,” I mutter, hands on my hips. “Clothes. Weapons. Whatever else people need to not die horribly. How hard can this be?”

Apparently, very hard.

Every time I turn around to grab something, I forget what I was reaching for. The silver pendant Kieran gave me keeps catching the light wrong, making me dizzy. And my shadows—usually so helpful—are acting like caffeinated squirrels.