POV: Kairo
She gasped.
Her body jerked upward, like air had just been forced back into her lungs.
But it wasn't the relief that stopped my breath.
It was her eyes.
They were hers.
But not quite.
Lyra blinked, dazed, and sat upright on the bed. Her chest rose and fell like she'd run through fire. Her hands trembled as they touched the sheets, her skin covered in a thin sheen of sweat.
I stepped forward slowly. "Lyra?"
She turned to me — and for a moment, her gaze was so familiar it hurt.
Then her lips parted. "You called me back."
The voice was hers. But layered.
Like another version of her still echoed beneath every word.
"I tried," I said. "I wasn't sure you'd… make it."
"I wasn't sure either," she said, looking down at her hands. "It was like drowning… in myself."
I sat on the edge of the bed, keeping a careful distance.
She didn't seem scared. But she wasn't calm either.
More like... on the edge of something.
"Is she gone?" I asked.
Lyra's eyes slowly drifted to mine. "No."
A long silence stretched between us.
"She showed me things," she whispered. "Memories. War. You. Her death."
I swallowed. "I know."
"She still loves you, Kairo."
Her voice trembled. "And part of me… can feel that love. Like it's woven into my bones."
The bond flared suddenly — bright and hot — and for a moment, I felt the pull again.
Not just attraction.
Obsession.
I clenched my fists. "It's not real."
"It feels real."
Lyra pressed a hand to her chest, like something inside her was burning.
Her voice dropped, softer now. "How am I supposed to know which feelings are mine?"
I reached out. "We'll figure it out—"
The moment my fingers brushed her wrist, a flash exploded between us.
Flame — real flame — burst from her palm, sending both of us flying in opposite directions.
I slammed against the far wall. She collapsed backward, gasping for breath.
"Lyra!"
But she wasn't looking at me.
She was staring at her hands — now glowing with golden heat — and her face twisted in horror.
"I didn't mean to," she whispered. "I didn't even try to—"
Her voice broke.
I stood slowly, heart thudding in my chest.
She was back.
But she wasn't alone.
And something inside her had just awakened… something she couldn't yet control.