Morning seeped through the cracks of the ruined fortress, soft and pale against the ash-stained stones. The world felt too still after last night’s chaos—like the silence was holding its breath, waiting to see who would move first.
Alina stirred in the cot they’d found for her, the thin blanket tangled around her legs. Her body ached everywhere, but not in the way it used to when the Veil had ravaged her. The ache now was… alive. Her mark thrummed faintly beneath her skin, no longer a wound but something closer to a heartbeat of its own.
She shifted, and only then realized Kael was already there. He sat in the chair beside her, armor loosened, head bowed slightly. His sword leaned against his knee, as if he’d been ready to draw it at the slightest sound even in sleep.
Her chest squeezed
