The air in their chambers was thick, suffocating with silence. Ariana sat at the far end of the bed, her knees tucked close to her chest, eyes rimmed with red. Kael stood by the hearth, his back to her, staring into the fire as if he could bend it to his will. The flames leapt higher, echoing the storm inside him.
Neither had spoken since the seer’s words earlier that day.
The silence stretched like a blade between them, sharp and dangerous.
Finally, Ariana’s voice cracked through it. “You’ve been hiding things from me.”
Kael didn’t move. “Not everything is yours to carry.”
Her chest tightened. “I’m your mate. Isn’t that what you’ve been saying since the day you dragged me into this world? That we’re bound, that nothing can come between us? And yet you keep me in the dark—about my mot
