Elowen POV
I thought distance would make it easier.
It didn't.
The farther I walked from Kael, the louder he became inside my head. His voice wasn't there — not really — but the memory of him pressed into my thoughts like a bruise I couldn't stop touching.
My chest still felt tight.
Not from running.
From staying.
I hated myself for that.
The ruined tower was quiet when night finally settled in. Seris had left me alone, claiming I needed rest, but sleep was impossible. Every time I lay down, my body buzzed with awareness — like it was waiting for something it shouldn't want.
Kael.
I curled my fingers into the rough blanket and squeezed until my hands ached.
He terrified me.
That should have been enough.
But fear wasn't the only thing he made me feel, and that truth filled me with a sick, trembling shame.
I kept seeing the way he stood in front of me earlier — not dramatically, not loudly — just there, solid and unyielding, as if the world itself would have to go through him to reach me.
Mine to protect.
The thought made my stomach twist.
I hated how much my body responded to that idea.
The door creaked softly.
My heart leapt into my throat.
I sat up instantly, breath shallow.
Kael stood in the doorway.
The low light carved him into shadow and flame — broad shoulders, dark eyes that reflected too much and revealed nothing. He didn't step inside. He didn't touch me.
That somehow made it worse.
"You shouldn't be here," I said, though my voice shook.
"I know," he replied.
He didn't leave.
Silence stretched, thick and heavy.
My pulse thundered in my ears. I was suddenly too aware of my bare arms, my tangled hair, the way the blanket had slipped low around my waist.
He noticed.
Of course he did.
His gaze darkened — not predatory, not leering — restrained. Controlled. And that restraint sent a slow, unwanted heat curling low in my belly.
I hated him for that.
I hated myself more.
"Why did you follow me?" I demanded.
His jaw tightened. "Because you ran."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one I have."
I swallowed hard. "You don't get to haunt me like this."
His voice dropped. "I already do."
The words sank into me like a slow blade.
"Every time you flinch," he continued quietly, "every time your power surges without permission — I feel it."
My breath hitched despite myself.
"You're afraid," he said. "And you hate that you still want me near."
The truth of it burned.
"Stop," I whispered.
"I can't."
His gaze dragged over my face, my throat, my hands clenched in the blanket like I was holding myself together.
"I should never have let it go this far," he said, and something in his voice cracked. "You were never meant to bleed for my mistakes."
The guilt in his tone was raw — unexpected.
It hurt more than his cruelty ever had.
"You still caged me," I said. "You still controlled me."
"Yes."
No denial.
No excuses.
"I thought if I kept you close," he continued, "if I bound the world away from you… you would stay untouched."
His eyes flicked away for half a second — the only sign of fracture.
"I was wrong."
The admission stunned me.
"I don't trust you," I said, my voice breaking. "I don't know if I ever can."
He stepped closer — just one step.
The air between us tightened.
"I don't need your trust tonight," he said softly. "Only your honesty."
My body betrayed me before my mouth could.
My breath caught.
"I'm scared of you," I whispered. "And I hate that part of me still wants you to stay."
His eyes burned.
"Good," he murmured. "Then you're still alive."
He stopped just out of reach.
Didn't touch me.
Didn't claim me.
That restraint screamed louder than possession.
"I will never force you," he said. "But I will not stop wanting you."
The words wrapped around my spine, heavy and intimate.
Tears stung my eyes — not from fear alone, but from the unbearable confusion of it all.
"Leave," I said again, weaker this time.
Kael held my gaze for a long moment.
Then he turned.
But before he crossed the threshold, he said quietly:
"If you wake screaming tonight… I will hear it."
And then he was gone.
I collapsed back onto the bed, shaking.
Hating him.
Missing him.
Terrified of how much worse this would become.
Kael POV
Leaving her was harder than staying.
Every instinct in me screamed to claim, to bind, to pull her into my arms and remind the world she was protected.
I didn't.
Because protection built on fear was no protection at all.
Her scent lingered on my skin — heat, grief, raw magic — and it undid me in ways no enemy ever had. The way she trembled when I stood too close. The way her pulse betrayed her when I spoke softly.
She wanted me.
And she hated herself for it.
That knowledge hollowed something in my chest.
"I will not become what they think I am," I murmured into the night.
But the truth was cruel.
If the cult forced her hand again…
If she was threatened…
I didn't know how much restraint I had left.
And that terrified me more than losing her ever could.