Julian sat very still on the stone bench, letting Thorne's words settle into him like cold water finding every c***k in old armor.
"How do I stop it?" he said finally. "Tell me exactly what to do, and I'll do it, whatever it costs."
"You can't stop it by force. That was Maldrek's mistake with Sable. He tried to control the fire through fear, through distance, through tests meant to prove a danger he'd already decided was real before he ever looked for proof."
"Then what do I do?"
"You go to her." Thorne leaned forward, elbows on his knees, his gaze steady and hard. "Not to command her back. Not to fix her like she's broken. You go to remind her body what safety feels like. That's all a bond can do, Julian. It doesn't cure. It anchors."
Julian's hands, still trembling faintly in his la
