Her chamber was quiet now, the echo of Kael and Riven’s voices lingering in Alina’s mind. They had left her with nothing but a warning, a promise, and an unsettling freedom. “Take some time,” Kael had said, voice steady, commanding. “Think. Learn what it wants. We will deal with the rest.”
Riven had only smirked, leaning against the doorway, shadows curling around him like a cloak. “Do not squander it,” he had murmured, eyes dark. “The Veil does not forgive hesitation.”
Alina pressed her palms to the mark on her wrist, tracing the silver lines that pulsed beneath her skin. Each thrum of light was a heartbeat of its own, a whisper that reached straight into her thoughts. Mine. The word repeated in her mind, curling around her like smoke. She could not deny it. She had been claimed. She wa
