(Back at Calareth)
Autumn did not release Jasper.
Her hands remained cupped around his face as if she were simply checking him for fever, thumbs brushing lightly beneath his eyes.
To everyone else it looked like a mother grounding her son after a shock.
Nothing more.
But beneath her palms something stirred.A slow current.Warm. Deep. Dangerous subtle.
Autumn inhaled softly.And channeled what was left of her.
It slipped from her chest like a thread pulled from the heart of a tapestry—thin at first, almost invisible. A pale pulse that passed from her skin into Jasper's.
No light.
No spectacle.
Just a quiet transfer of something that should never have been given away.
Jasper stiffened.
Not visibly.
Just a fraction.
Like a cold body suddenly feeling warmth.
His pupils steadied.
The trembling in his shoulders softened.
Autumn leaned closer, her voice calm—too calm."Look at me."
Jasper obeyed.
"Still here?" she asked quietly.
He gave a crooked nod.
