Aurenya’s POV
The bond didn’t just return.
It tightened.
Like invisible chains wrapping around my ribs, pulling—harder with every breath I took.
I staggered again, and this time I couldn’t hide it.
A sharp inhale left me, uneven.
Weak.
Rhydan noticed first.
Of course he did.
His head tilted slightly, eyes darkening with something dangerously close to satisfaction. “You feel it too.”
“I said—” My voice cracked. I swallowed hard. “It means nothing.”
A lie.
A terrible one.
Because my body was betraying me in real time.
Every nerve felt alive. Aware. Drawn toward them like gravity had shifted and I was no longer standing on my own ground.
Kaelor took another careful step forward. “Aurenya, you’re shaking.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.”
“I said I am.”
My grip on the dagger tighte
