(Kael’s POV)
The night after the gate closed, the Hollow didn’t sleep.
Every sound carried too far, the creak of wood, the faint whisper of wind through the burned timbers, the slow, uneasy rhythm of breathing from the wolves who’d made it through. But beneath it all was something else, a pulse Kael couldn’t shake. It wasn’t the Deep this time. It was him.
The black veins under his skin still faintly glowed when the moonlight touched them. They felt alive, like something coiled beneath his surface was testing its cage. Each time his heart beat, the marks answered with a flicker of gold.
He stood near the ridge, bare to the cold air, feeling the weight of it crawl through his veins.
He didn’t hear Aria approach, only sensed her warmth before her voice reached him.
“You haven’t rested.
