Page 36

THIRTY-SIX

SELENE

S he was alive.

That was the only thing Selene could process for the first few moments after she gasped into Kael’s chest, arms clawing weakly around him like she’d climbed out of the fucking abyss.

Her breath was shallow, uneven. Her lips were cracked. Her skin still held the chill of death’s edge.

But she was breathing. And she was looking at him.

She smiled. “Hey.”

“I thought I lost you,” he rasped, voice hoarse. “I thought I’d?—”

“You didn’t.” Her fingers curled against the back of his neck. “You pulled me back.”

He kissed her.

He didn’t know who moved first. Maybe it didn’t matter. It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t sweet. It was desperate. Teeth. Tongue. Gasped breaths tangled between their mouths.

It was a promise: I still want you.

And a plea, don’t ever fucking leave again.

Selene lay in Kael’s arms for more than a moment, heart still pounding, skin flushed from where their bond had reignited—not just in flesh, but in soul.

But even wrapped in the comfort of him revealing in being alive, being with him and what he had just done for her, the moment didn’t last. It couldn’t. Because the Veil whispered of unfinished things.

And Varyn was still alive.

She sat up slowly, her body sore but humming with magic, the reborn bond inside her pulsing like a second heart. Kael stirred behind her, brushing a hand up her spine.

“Don’t say it,” he murmured.

“I have to.”

His sigh was rough against her neck. “Let me guess. ‘We can’t stay here.’”

“No,” she said, glancing over her shoulder, “ we can’t leave him alive. ”

Kael’s jaw clenched.

“We take him together,” she said.

He nodded. And that was it. No speeches. No ceremony. Just two people—scarred, raw, ready .

He was in the ruins of the ritual grounds, exactly where Kael had left him.

Barely breathing. But not dead.

Yet.

Varyn was slumped against the stone altar, one arm twisted unnaturally, blood staining his once-immaculate robes. His face looked like Kael had dragged it through a mountain—twice. But even now, even broken, he smirked when he saw them.

“You came back,” he rasped. “How poetic.”

Selene stepped forward, Kael’s shadow at her back. “You talk too much.”

He coughed, a rattling sound. “And you love too blindly.”

Kael’s blade was at his throat before he blinked.

“Careful,” Kael growled. “My mercy is thinner than your spine.”

Varyn laughed. “You think you’ve won?” he slurred. “This isn’t about me. It never was.”

Selene’s fingers twitched at her side. She could feel the Veil’s pulse through the earth again—still active. Still open.

Varyn saw her gaze.

“That’s it, isn’t it?” he said. “You can feel it. You are the bridge.”

Kael growled, blade digging deeper.

But Selene stepped between them.

Not to protect Varyn. To end him.

“You wanted to use me,” she said, voice cold. “To hollow me out. To bleed my bloodline dry and wear it like armor.”

She knelt, meeting his eyes.

“But I’m not your bridge,” she whispered. “I’m your fucking reckoning.”

Magic sparked in her veins, pure, ancient, hers .

She lifted her hand. The Veil rippled.

Varyn’s smile faltered. “Wait?—”

The power surged from her, silver-blue and searing, a tidal wave that didn’t burn—it unwound .

Veil-threaded light burst from her palms, weaving around Varyn like rope made of memory and flame. It bound him to the altar. It unmade him from the inside out, peeling back his magic, his voice, his venom.

He screamed. And Selene watched. No pity. No regret. Only clarity. She wasn’t a pawn anymore. She wasn’t Kael’s weakness.

She was a queen.

When the light faded, only ash remained. Silence followed.

Kael exhaled behind her. “Holy hells,” he said.

Selene swayed.

He caught her instantly, arms strong, grounding her again. “You okay?”

She looked up at him. “I will be,” she said. “If we end this right.”

He nodded. “Then let’s do it.”

They returned to the shattered remnants of the Court of Claws not as fugitives or traitors—but as saviors.

Guards lowered their weapons at Kael’s approach.

Priests stepped back when Selene passed, the Mark blazing anew on her skin.

No words. No commands. Just presence.

And in the center of the war room, what remained of it—Selene stood beside Kael, lifted her chin, and spoke the words that would break the cycle.

“This court dies tonight.”

A beat. Murmurs. Shock.

Kael stepped forward, hand sliding into hers.

“But a better one rises,” he said. “One not built on bloodlines or fear or conquest. But on choice. On alliance. On love.”

Silence.

Nyra stepped forward, blade unsheathed.

She knelt. The others followed. And just like that, they weren’t hiding anymore.

They were leading.