Page 28

TWENTY-EIGHT

KAEL

S elene lay curled beside Kael, tucked against his chest, her fingers still looped loosely with his like some quiet promise.

Her hair fanned over his shoulder, catching the glint of moonlight.

Her breathing had slowed into the steady rhythm of deep sleep—but the bond between them still pulsed faintly with residual heat from what they’d done. What they’d chosen .

Not fate. Not prophecy.

Them.

And gods help him, that terrified him more than anything he’d ever faced in battle.

Because now… he would give it all up.

The throne. The name. The power.

He’d walk away from it tomorrow if it meant keeping her safe.

And that was the kind of love that destroyed kingdoms.

He eased away from her with a care usually reserved for blades that bit back.

Selene murmured something in her sleep but didn’t wake.

Kael stepped outside the narrow cave mouth they had laid in to get out of the elements, the cool forest air washing over his bare skin. The trees whispered above like they were telling secrets in a language he almost understood.

He stared up at the sky.

Stars burned behind a shifting haze. A falcon cried in the distance.

Kael frowned.

That wasn’t normal this deep in Veilwood.

Another cry—closer this time. Sharp. Urgent.

And then he saw it.

A falcon dipped low through the trees, feathers glinting dark bronze in the moonlight. A silver band wrapped around its leg.

Nyra.

The falcon banked once, circled, then dropped a small capsule into his hand before vanishing into the trees like a phantom.

Kael cracked it open with trembling fingers. Inside was a scroll no larger than his palm, wound tight with Nyra’s seal pressed into wax at the edge.

He read the message once. Then again. And a third time, as dread coiled slow and thick in his gut.

The Rising Flame has moved.

They believe Selene is still in the castle. They intend to breach the Veil.

The council’s protections have already weakened. This isn’t a small attack. This is war.

Our father is doing what he can, but the people are split after your imprisonment and escape.

I’m stalling them best I can, but they’re human fanatics, Kael. They believe her blood is divine.

That she’s the vessel.

They’re coming.

Kael stood very still, the wind scraping through the leaves above him like teeth on bone. His first thought was Selene . His second— they were already too late .

If the Rising Flame believed she was still in the castle, they would tear the mountain apart looking for her. And if Ruarc couldn’t stop them, or if he saw it as some political convenience.

Kael clenched his fists.

He had no kingdom. No army. But he had her .

He ducked back inside the cave.

Selene stirred when he knelt beside her. Her eyes fluttered open, already alert, already reading him.

“What is it?” she asked, voice husky from sleep.

He handed her the scroll.

She read it. Said nothing for a long time. Then looked up at him.

“Tell me everything.”

Kael crouched, bracing his hands on his knees, his voice low and tense. “The Rising Flame is a human cult. Anti-shifter. Extremist. They believe shifters are abominations—gods cursed into flesh. They’ve been small for years. Radicalized. Isolated.”

“Until now,” Selene said.

He nodded. “They’ve grown. And someone’s funding them. Someone powerful. Especially if they were able to carry out this attack.”

She frowned. “Why me?”

Kael met her gaze. “Because of your bloodline.”

Selene’s lips parted slightly.

“They think your line is divine. That you’re a vessel meant to control the Veil. Not bridge it. Not protect it.” His voice cracked. “ Control it. ”

She was silent again.

But he saw the way her hands trembled.

“How did they know where I was?” she whispered.

Kael didn’t answer.

He didn’t need to.

“Someone in the court,” she said bitterly. “Still feeding them information.”

“Or manipulating them,” Kael said. “Varyn? The council? Maybe even a faction of your own.”

Selene stood and wrapped the cloak tighter around her. Her face was pale, but her spine was straight.

Kael watched her, his heart breaking and expanding at once.

She was terrified. But she wouldn’t show it. He loved her for that.

“Then we go back,” she said. “We stop them.”

“No.” His voice came sharper than he meant. “We don’t face them without a plan.”

“You think we can outrun them forever?”

“No,” he admitted. “But I will buy us time. Time to understand what this second bond means. What your powers are really becoming. What they’re after. ”

She hesitated. Then, slowly, she nodded. But the set of her jaw told him this wasn’t over. She wouldn’t run forever. And he knew he wouldn’t let her.

By morning, they were already moving again.

Kael buried the scroll deep in the forest. He marked the trees in Fenrir glyphs to warn any loyal scout who passed through. He sent Nyra a message through the falcon’s band—three words scratched in quick script:

We’re coming soon.

Because they wouldn’t hide forever. They would fight. Together.

And the Veil would never be the same again.