Page 24

Kaia

My shadows coil tight and sharp around me, responding to my fury. Even Mouse's usual calming presence can't soothe the storm brewing inside me.

"You knew," I say, my voice deadly quiet as I finally break the silence. "You knew exactly what this place would do."

Kieran meets my gaze steadily, but there's something ancient and tired in his golden eyes. "Yes."

The simple admission makes my shadows lash out before I can stop them. "Why?" The word comes out raw, scraping my throat. "Why would you do this?"

"Because we needed—"

"Don't," I cut him off. "Don't you dare talk about need. About balance or ancient wisdom or whatever other excuse you've prepared." My hands shake as I step closer. "Tell me how these bonds were really meant to form."

His jaw tightens, but it's Malrik who answers, his voice soft with realization.

"Love," he says, and the word seems to echo in the ancient chamber.

"They were sealed through love. Through choice.

" His silver eyes meet mine. "That's what I've been feeling.

What we've all been feeling, but couldn't understand. "

"The bond forms naturally," Kieran admits reluctantly. "Growing stronger as hearts align. The final sealing…" He pauses, looking away. "It was meant to happen during lovemaking. A choice made in perfect trust and devotion."

The truth of it nearly brings me to my knees. What should have been beautiful, sacred even, twisted into this forced connection. My shadows writhe with shared grief and fury.

"You stole that from us," I whisper. "You took something that was supposed to be about love and turned it into another chain."

"Kaia—" Finn starts, his voice uncharacteristically gentle.

"No." I turn back to Kieran. "You didn't just force these bonds. You took away our chance to choose them. To let them grow naturally. To fall in love on our own terms."

The silence that follows feels heavy enough to crush stone.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" My voice shakes with barely contained fury. "These bonds—they're not just magic. They're not just convenient connections you can force into place when it suits you."

My shadows surge with my anger, and I catch Bob actually positioning himself between me and Kieran like he's ready for battle. Patricia's frantic note-taking has turned sharp and aggressive, while Mouse's growl vibrates through the stone floor.

"The timing—" Kieran starts, but I cut him off.

"The timing?" I laugh, but there's no humor in it. "You mean your schedule? Your plans? Because that's all that matters, right? Not the fact that these bonds are supposed to be sacred. "

Malrik steps forward, his silver eyes intense. "The ancient texts spoke of bonds formed over years. Of connections that grew stronger with each shared moment, each choice to stay." His voice carries the weight of generations of shadow realm knowledge. "They were never meant to be forced."

"But they were always meant to form," Kieran counters, though his voice lacks its usual certainty.

"Eventually," I snap. "Through trust. Through actually falling in love.

Through choosing each other every single day until the bond grew strong enough to seal itself.

" My hand presses against my chest where I can feel them all now, these connections I didn't ask for. "Not like this. Never like this."

Finn moves closer, his usual playful demeanor gone. "So what happens now? These bonds—they're permanent, aren't they?"

"Yes." Kieran's answer falls like a stone. "Once sealed, they can't be broken."

The anger burns hotter. "Of course they can't. Because why would you give us any choice at all?"

"Kaia—" Aspen starts, but I shake my head.

"Don't. Just… don't." I turn back to Kieran. "You talk about fate and duty like they justify everything. But you just turned something beautiful into another weapon. Another tool."

The silence that follows feels sharp enough to draw blood.

My chest is tight, my shadows still pulsing with restless energy, but it's the rage burning beneath my skin that keeps me upright.

I need to get out of here.

I turn sharply, not waiting for anyone to say anything else. No one tries to stop me as I storm toward the exit, though I can feel their eyes on my back, heavy with things they want to say but know better than to voice right now.

The corridors blur together as I move, each step fueled by too many emotions, all of them threatening to consume me.

Rage.

Betrayal.

A grief so heavy and unexpected it nearly brings me to my knees.

I don't stop walking until I find myself somewhere unfamiliar. Which is pretty much everywhere here.

The air shifts. The oppressive weight of the sanctuary eases, and for the first time since entering this cursed place, I can breathe.

I glance around, my heartbeat slowing as I take in the space.

A garden.

Not like the rest of the sanctuary, which is bathed in shadows and cracked with signs of corruption. This place is untouched.

Flowers bloom in rich shades of violet and deep blue, their petals shifting faintly in the soft breeze. Tall trees stretch overhead, their leaves rustling in a way that feels almost like a whisper. A small pool of water sits in the center, so clear it looks like glass.

This place is… wrong.

Not in the way the sanctuary is wrong, not like the twisting shadows and corrupted magic.

It's wrong because it shouldn't exist.

The land outside is rotting, infected with whatever sickness is spreading through this realm. And yet, here, the air is clean, the earth is whole. Nothing should be this untouched .

I exhale shakily and step forward, my fingers brushing over the petals of a nearby flower.

"I wish Seren were here," I murmur, the words barely more than a breath.

The wind stirs, the magic in the air shifting.

But it's not Seren who answers.

"It seems you and I had the same thought."

I turn sharply, shadows flaring around me before I even register who's standing at the edge of the garden.

Revna.

She watches me with an expression I can't quite read, her silver-streaked hair catching the soft glow of the garden's magic. She's not wearing her Guardian armor, but she doesn't need it. There's something about her presence that feels just as commanding without it.

She tilts her head slightly, studying me. "I was hoping we could talk."

I narrow my eyes. "If this is about Kieran, I don't want to hear it."

Her lips twitch slightly, not quite a smile. "It is. And you do."

I cross my arms, biting down my instinct to snap at her. I don't want another lecture on duty or fate or any of the other excuses Kieran is bound to throw at me later.

Revna steps forward, but she doesn't get too close. "I've known Kieran for centuries," she says, her voice even, steady. "I've known him as a warrior. As a leader. As a friend."

I don't answer.

Because I know where this is going, and I don't want to hear it.

She watches me carefully, like she knows exactly what I'm thinking. "And I've known that he's loved you every moment in between. "

My breath catches, but I force myself to keep my expression neutral. "Love?" I scoff. "Love isn't forcing a bond. Love isn't taking away someone's choice."

"No," Revna agrees. "It isn't."

That throws me. I expected her to defend him, to tell me why he did what he did, why I should forgive him. Instead, she just watches me with that same measured calm.

I shake my head. "Then why are you here?"

"Because you need to understand something, Kaia." She steps forward again, and this time, I don't move away. "For centuries, Kieran held onto one thing—one belief that kept him going when the rest of the world burned around him."

She tells me anyway.

"He believed it was just the two of you."

The words hit harder than I want them to.

"He thought your bond would be singular, unbreakable. He believed, with everything in him, that it was meant to be just you and him." She exhales softly. "And when he realized it wasn't? That you had others?"

"He couldn't handle it," I finish for her.

Revna doesn't deny it.

I let out a slow breath, shaking my head. "That doesn't change what he did."

"No," she agrees. "It doesn't."

She doesn't try to justify it. Doesn't try to make excuses for him. And somehow, that makes this conversation worse.

Because I wanted to fight.

I wanted to argue .

But she isn't here to fight. She's here to tell me the truth.

I exhale, my hands tightening at my sides. "What am I supposed to do with that?"

Revna watches me for a long moment. Then, softly, she says, "That's up to you."

I look away, my eyes tracing the flowers at my feet, the small pool of still water, the trees stretching above us.

It was supposed to be just the two of us.

And now?

Now, I don't even know what's real anymore.