Aria’s POV
The air in the Gate Chamber was thick with the aftermath.
Every breath tasted of ash and metal, like the Hollow itself was still deciding whether to exhale or hold its breath forever. Aria sat against the cool stone wall, Kael’s head resting in her lap. His skin was pale beneath the faint gold light that still flickered under his veins, like embers refusing to die.
He was alive. That was all that mattered right now.
Her fingers trembled as she brushed a streak of soot from his jaw. The battle against the Deep had left him drained, his power spent, but the bond between them still pulsed steady and warm. That connection, fragile, fierce, alive, was the only thing that had kept the Deep from claiming him entirely.
“You stubborn fool,” she whispered, her voice barely more than
