(Dual POV: Elowen / Kael)
Elowen POV
I didn't break down immediately.
I waited until Kael left.
Until the echo of his footsteps faded down the tower stairs and the wards settled back into their quiet hum. Until I was alone with the truth pulsing beneath my skin.
I was bound to him.
Not by spell.
Not by command.
By choice.
The realization made my chest ache so badly I had to press my palm against it, like I could physically hold myself together.
I slid down the wall and sat on the cold stone floor, knees drawn to my chest.
"I hate this," I whispered to no one.
The training had worked. That was the cruelest part. When I'd anchored to Kael, the power hadn't fought me. It hadn't burned or clawed. It had listened.
It wanted him.
The thought sent a shiver through me — half terror, half something that curled low in my belly and made me ashamed.
I pressed my forehead to my knees, breathing shallowly.
You don't need him, I told myself.
You're just afraid.
But fear didn't feel like this.
Fear didn't linger when he stepped away.
Fear didn't ache when he wasn't near.
A sharp knock echoed through the chamber.
I startled, scrambling to my feet.
"Elowen."
Kael's voice.
Steady. Controlled.
I swallowed hard. "You said you were leaving."
"I did," he replied. "And then the wards shifted."
My stomach dropped.
Before I could respond, the air snapped.
The wards flared violently, black sigils igniting along the stone walls as a pressure slammed into the tower like a fist.
I cried out, staggering as the floor trembled.
Kael was suddenly there — between me and the door, his body a solid wall of protection as shadows poured through the cracks in the stone like smoke given form.
"Stay behind me," he ordered.
Fear surged, wild and sharp.
The power answered.
"No!" I gasped. "I can't—"
"You can," Kael said, voice low and absolute. "You will."
The shadows screamed.
A figure stepped forward — robed, faceless, its presence wrong in a way that made my teeth ache.
"The vessel awakens," it crooned. "How beautifully you fracture her, Lord of Ash."
Rage exploded through Kael.
The temperature in the room spiked. Flames bled from the sigils etched into his skin, his wings unfurling in a burst of heat and shadow.
"She is mine to protect," he snarled.
The word mine hit me like a blow.
Not ownership.
A vow.
The cultist laughed. "Then watch."
The shadows lunged.
Kael moved instantly, fire tearing through the chamber in a roar of heat and light. The cultist screamed as the flames consumed it, but not before a tendril of darkness lashed toward me.
Panic surged.
The power ripped free.
Light exploded from my chest, blinding and violent. The stone cracked beneath my feet as the force slammed outward, obliterating the shadow in a burst of white-gold fire.
Silence fell.
Smoke curled through the air.
I stood frozen, shaking violently, my hands glowing faintly as the last of the power receded.
Kael turned slowly.
His eyes were blazing.
Not with anger.
With terror.
He crossed the distance between us in two strides and stopped inches away, hands hovering at my shoulders — not touching.
"You almost burned yourself out," he said hoarsely.
"I couldn't stop it," I whispered. "I was scared."
"I know," he said.
His restraint was fraying. I could see it — the way his jaw clenched, the way his hands trembled just slightly where they hovered near me.
"I said stay behind me," he continued, voice rough. "And you unleashed enough power to level the tower."
"I didn't mean to," I said, tears spilling over. "I didn't—"
"You don't get to sacrifice yourself," he snapped.
The words cracked something open between us.
"I'm not yours to decide that!" I shot back, anger flaring through the fear. "You don't get to—"
His hands slammed into the wall on either side of my head.
The impact made me flinch.
He didn't touch me.
But he trapped me there, his body a cage of heat and shadow and barely contained need.
"You're right," he said, breathing hard. "You are not mine to command."
His face was inches from mine now. Too close. Too intense.
"But if you die," he whispered, voice breaking just enough to terrify me, "it will destroy more than you understand."
My heart pounded so hard I could feel it in my throat.
"Then why do you look at me like that?" I whispered.
His eyes dropped to my mouth.
Then dragged back up to my eyes with visible effort.
"Because wanting you," he said quietly, "is the one thing I cannot allow myself."
The silence between us throbbed.
My breath hitched.
"If you touch me," I said shakily, "I don't think I'll stop you."
His eyes flared.
He stepped back instantly, tearing himself away like it cost him blood.
"That," he said, voice iron-hard now, "is exactly why I won't."
He turned away, wings folding tight against his back.
"You are not ready," he said. "And neither am I."
He left the room without looking back.
I slid down the wall, shaking, tears streaming freely now.
Because for the first time, I understood something terrifying.
Kael wasn't afraid of hurting me.
He was afraid of wanting me too much.
And that made everything infinitely more dangerous.