The midday sun filtered through the tall windows of the library, casting latticed shadows across the worn wood floors. I sat hunched over a thick volume on shifter history, pretending to study while my ears strained to catch the murmurs around me. It had been a week since the night Kael and I had admitted the truth, and though nothing had changed on the surface, everything beneath it had shifted.
The bond was stronger. I felt it humming beneath my skin, a quiet, constant warmth that centered me even when Kael wasn’t near. But it also made everything riskier. My control over the illusion glamour had always been precise, drilled into me by years of training. But now, with emotions running high and magic tugging at the edges of my restraint, cracks had begun to form.
I couldn’t let anyone s
