Alina’s chamber was more a cage than a sanctuary. The room was luxurious—black velvet drapes, a bed carved from obsidian, silken sheets that shimmered faintly like they held whispers of shadow—but the windows looked out onto nothing but endless night. No stars. No moon. Just the Veil pressing close, suffocating. Kael left her there with no explanation, only the weight of his warning lingering in the air. Do not speak to him.
She paced, restless. Every part of her body felt alive, still humming from the way Kael’s touch had branded her in the throne hall. Yet it wasn’t only him she couldn’t shake. The memory of Riven’s eyes—mocking, hungry, electric—burned hotter with every heartbeat. She told herself she would not open the door when the knock came. But when it did—low, deliberate, like a
