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TWENTY-ONE

SELENE

H e walked away.

Again.

And this time, Selene didn’t stop him.

She stood alone in the garden with the cold seeping through her boots and her fingers curled into fists. The wind kissed her cheeks with a sting, but she barely felt it. Not past the throb in her chest. Not past the weight of what he’d said.

“I’m falling in love with you.”

And then he’d turned like it hurt to say it.

Like it was a confession instead of a promise.

He didn’t look back. She didn’t call after him. Because she saw it in his face— terror .

That was the thing no one talked about with people like Kael. Not the rage. Not the fire. Not the strength.

But the fear. The fear of needing something too much. Of loving something he thought he would break.

She stood there and watched him go and held her head a little higher, forcing the burn of oncoming tears back into their rightful spots.

Selene didn’t let herself cry for boys who ran. Not for court games. Not even for men who kissed her like she was air and then disappeared like she was poison.

But she did sit with it.

Let the ache settle. Let the Mark pulse quietly on her skin.

It wasn’t demanding anything of her. It just was .

Like Kael. Like whatever this thing was growing between them.

That night, she didn’t eat dinner. Didn’t join the firelight-soaked main hall or the courtiers who whispered when she passed. She sat in her quarters until the moons climbed high enough that the snow outside the citadel glowed like polished bone.

And then she stood. Because enough was enough.

If he thought he could break her with silence, he didn’t know her at all.

Kael’s chambers were deeper in the mountain, tucked behind heavy double doors with silver veins running through the wood. The guards posted outside didn’t stop her. Just bowed and opened the way without a word.

Maybe Kael had warned them off.

Or maybe they’d finally realized Selene Morwen wasn’t a girl who waited for permission anymore.

She stepped inside without knocking.

The room was dim, only the fire lit, a soft amber pulse in the stone hearth. Shadows curled around the walls like sleeping beasts. And there, shirtless and still bruised from the patrol, sat Kael.

His gaze lifted when she entered.

He didn’t speak. Didn’t stand. Just stared like he was waiting for her to scream at him.

Selene closed the door quietly.

“I’m not here to yell,” she said.

Kael’s brows drew together. “Then why?—”

“Because I’m tired,” she interrupted. “Tired of you carrying the weight like I’m not capable of helping you hold it.”

He flinched. Almost imperceptibly. But she saw it.

She stepped closer, cloak slipping from her shoulders. The fire warmed her skin, lit her hair with gold.

“You think pushing me away is noble?” she said. “Like you’re saving me? Letting me go before your dreams make them real?”

His jaw tensed and his shoulders went rigid.

She smiled, bitter and soft. “You think I don’t feel it? The fear? The pressure? I do , Kael. I’ve been drowning in it.”

He stood then, sudden and too close. “You don’t understand.”

“I do ,” she said, quieter now. “Because Nyra told me.”

Kael stilled, jaw clenched even harder now. “She told you about Elara.”

She didn’t flinch. “I don’t know her name,” Selene said. “I don’t need to. I just know she was someone you loved. And she died. And it broke you.”

His hands shook. “You don’t get to use her.”

“I’m not,” she said gently. “But you should’ve been the one to tell me. Not your sister. Not a court rumor.”

Silence.

The fire cracked.

“I’m not her,” Selene added. “I’m not a shadow of your past. I’m not something you have to protect until it breaks in your arms.”

Kael’s voice came rough. “I can’t lose you. Not like I lost her.”

“Then stop trying to let me go.” She stepped closer. “I’m stronger than you think,” she whispered.

The tension in the room was thick, taut like a string about to snap. But he didn’t move away this time. Didn’t run.

And when she reached for his hand, he took it. Held it like he didn’t trust himself to let go.

“I keep seeing it,” Kael admitted. “Your death. Over and over. The Mark sends flashes. Nightmares. I wake up choking on the blood that isn’t real yet.”

She was quiet for a long time.

“What if it’s not a warning of what will happen… but what could ?”

He blinked.

“You’ve let it rule you. Let it decide for you. But you said it yourself—you’re falling for me. That wasn’t the Mark. That was you .”

Selene saw a change in his eyes.

Trust.

Not fully formed, not steady. But growing. And he trusted what she was saying.

They talked for hours after that.

About the council. The attack. Varyn.

Kael showed her the letter with the Duskthorn seal, and Selene traced the wax like it might slice her fingers open with secrets.

“They want to take me,” she said.

“They want to use you,” he corrected. “For your blood. Your birthright. Not as a person. As a tool.”

“And we’re going to stop them.”

He looked at her then.

“You sure you’re in this?” he asked. “Because once we dig deeper… there’s no turning back.”

Selene smiled. “I was never halfway, Kael. Not with you. Not with this. But if we know it’s him though, why can’t we just expose him with this letter or–”

“Because,” Kael interrupted. “We need more evidence. He’s already at this court after what his uncle had done, and my father will need more than a letter and a seal. We need to know the plan, expose him and find out what he’s up to for good. Exile in the worst form.”

Serene couldn’t help but slightly smile at the building passion she was feeling from Kael’s plan.

“So, vengeance?”

He smiled back at her, his blue eyes dancing in the firelight. “Vengeance.”