Chapter Nineteen
Riven's POV
The trees pressed closer the further I walked, shadows twisting, whispering things I didn't want to hear.
His mouth on your throat. His voice in your ear.
"Shut up," I muttered, clutching my temples.
The curse didn't care. It pressed harder, coils tightening around my chest until every breath felt stolen. The bond demanded what I refused to give.
Lior.
My knees buckled, and I caught myself against a tree. Sweat stung my eyes, the taste of copper thick on my tongue.
"You can't keep running like this."
Her voice again. Calm. Steady. Infuriating.
I turned, glaring through my haze. Eira leaned against a trunk, her dagger at her side, watching me with eyes that saw far too much.
"Go home, Eira," I rasped.
Her head tilted. "This is home. Guarding blood like ours. Keeping it from burning everything to ash."
I laughed, bitter and broken. "You call this guarding? You've been stalking me like prey."
She didn't flinch. "Because you're acting like prey. Weak. Cornered. Consumed. Tell me, cousin—when's the last time you slept without hearing his name?"
My jaw locked.
"That's what I thought," she said softly. "The curse is tightening. The more you resist, the stronger it'll pull. One way or another, it'll break you."
Her words sank into me like knives. I hated her for being right.
But I hated myself more for the truth of it.
Because no matter how much I denied him, every throb of pain inside me whispered the same thing:
Go to Lior.
---
Lior's POV
The bar had emptied, leaving only the hum of low voices and the stink of spilled whisky. My brother was gone, his warning still echoing: The king is watching.
I sat in silence, staring at my glass, though I wasn't drinking anymore. What was the point? No amount of alcohol could burn him out of me.
Riven.
The curse pulsed like a heartbeat, not mine but his. Faint. Ragged. I could feel him unraveling miles away, the bond feeding me pieces of his suffering like poison.
My hand trembled against the glass. For a moment, I almost rose, almost went to him.
Almost.
But my brother's voice clung to me like chains. If the king suspected, if he even guessed what tied me to that hunter, it would be the end of both of us.
So I stayed.
I stayed while my chest ached, while the bond dragged me toward him, while every instinct screamed his name.
And for the first time in centuries, I felt helpless. Truly helpless.
Because wanting him wasn't the danger anymore.
It was needing him.