Kael's head snapped toward the sound, his expression sharpening. "Stay here," he commanded.
Before Lianna could protest, the shadows around him rippled, and he vanished.
Her heart lurched. "Kael—wait—"
The words caught in her throat when the bedroom door slammed open.
And something stepped out.
It wasn't Kael.
It was taller, thinner, its body twisting unnaturally as though its limbs were pulled by invisible strings. Its face was shrouded in black smoke, only two gleaming eyes visible—eyes that burned with hunger.
The same eyes she had seen at the lake.
Her scream lodged in her throat.
The creature hissed, shadows spilling across the floor like liquid darkness, reaching for her ankles.
Lianna stumbled back, her heel catching on the rug. She fell, scrambling to push herself away. "No—no, this isn't real—!"
The shadow surged closer, claws forming from the smoke.
Then Kael was there, appearing between them in a flash of dark light.
His hand raised, and the shadows recoiled violently as though struck. His voice thundered through the room: "Back to the void!"
The creature shrieked, twisting, before bursting into a cloud of smoke that evaporated into the walls.
Silence crashed down.
Lianna lay on the floor, her chest heaving, tears blurring her vision.
Kael turned to her slowly. His storm-gray eyes burned with intensity, yet his hand trembled at his side.
"Do you believe me now?" he asked quietly.
Her lips parted, but no words came. All she could do was stare at him, the image of the shadow burned into her mind.
Kael crouched in front of her, his voice softer than it had been all night. "This is only the beginning. You cannot run from this, Lianna. The bond ties you to me… and to the world you've been blind to until now."
Her pulse thundered in her ears. She wanted to deny it. To scream again that none of this was fair. But deep down, some part of her had already surrendered the moment that creature stepped out of her bedroom.
The world she thought she knew was gone.
Kael helped her stand, his touch strangely gentle compared to the raw power he had unleashed moments before.
"Don't touch me," Lianna snapped automatically, jerking her arm away. But her legs wobbled, and she nearly fell again.
Kael caught her, steadying her with ease. "You don't have to like me," he murmured. "But you will stay alive because of me."
Anger flared through her fear, enough to give her strength. "You think saving me once gives you the right to control my life?"
Kael's eyes narrowed. "I think saving you is my duty. Whether you accept that or not is irrelevant."
His words cut deep. Lianna pulled away from him fully this time, standing on shaking legs. "You can't just… walk in here and decide who I am. What I owe. I didn't ask for any of this."
"No one asks for fate," Kael replied, his tone sharp. "It chooses. It binds. And it punishes those who resist."
Lianna pressed her palms to her face, shaking her head violently. "I can't do this. I just… I can't."
Kael's voice softened slightly, though the storm in his eyes never wavered. "You can. And you will. Because the shadows won't stop until they consume you completely. I won't allow that."
Silence stretched between them, heavy and suffocating.
Finally, Lianna whispered, "Why me?"
Kael looked at her for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Then he stepped closer, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Because you are the only one who can break the chains… or tighten them forever."
Her breath caught. "I don't understand."
"You will," Kael said simply, his eyes burning into hers. "But know this, Lianna—your old life is gone. The moment you touched that lake, the moment the bond marked you… you became mine."
The words echoed through her mind, terrifying and magnetic all at once.
Kael's shadow rippled across the floor, swallowing the remnants of darkness the creature had left behind. Then, just as suddenly as he had appeared, he dissolved into the shadows once more, leaving her trembling and alone in the silence of her apartment.
Lianna sank to her knees, her body shaking violently as tears streamed down her face.
She pressed her hands to her marked wrist, the burn stronger than ever, and whispered to the empty room—
"What have I gotten myself into?"
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