Chapter 120
The stillness didn't last, and Ariana felt the change before she could understand it. Her hand remained pressed against Kael's chest, but the heartbeat beneath her palm was no longer steady, shifting in a way that made her breathing tighten as she tried to follow it. The longer she focused on it, the clearer it became that something was no longer holding together the way it had before.
"Kael," she said quietly, her voice steady at first, though tension had already begun to settle in her chest. Her fingers tightened against his shirt as she searched his face, trying to catch the moment before it changed again. "Look at me."
He was already looking at her, and that was what made everything feel wrong. There was no adjustment in his gaze, no flicker of recognition settling into place, just a steady focus that didn't match what she expected to see. Ariana held onto that anyway, even as something in her instincts told her to pull back.
