Chapter 11
318 Words
Kael looked exactly as he did in her vision—
sharp jaw, pale eyes, but colder… broken… darker.
“Alina.”
His voice was soft, almost gentle.
“You found your way back to me.”
She took a step back.
“No… I don’t even know you.”
Kael smiled faintly.
“You will.”
Rafe moved between them.
“This is over, Kael. You shouldn’t exist.”
“Oh, Rafe.” Kael sighed mockingly.
“You always were dramatic.”
Alina’s mark began glowing again.
Kael’s eyes locked onto it like a star he’d been hunting.
“They told me you died,” she whispered.
“They tried,” Kael said.
“But death doesn’t hold those who are tied to the moon.”
Rafe growled,
“You betrayed the Circle—”
“For her!” Kael snapped.
“I betrayed them for her.”
The ground trembled.
The moon above flickered behind clouds.
Kael lifted his hand toward Alina.
“I don’t want to hurt you. I never did.
I just want you to remember who I was to you.”
Rafe stepped closer to her, hand protective on her back.
“She doesn’t need your memories.”
“She needs the truth,” Kael hissed.
“Tell her, Rafe.
Tell her what happened the night she died the first time.”
Alina’s heart pounded.
“Rafe… what is he talking about?”
Rafe’s jaw clenched.
Kael smiled cruelly.
“Ah. He didn’t tell you?”
Alina looked at Rafe, fear rising.
“Tell me what…?”
Kael stepped forward, eyes burning.
“That the first time you died—
it was Rafe who couldn’t save you.”
The world seemed to stop.
Rafe closed his eyes, guilt written all over his face.
And Alina realized—
Both of them were tied to her past.
But one of them
might have let her die.
- Writer
