Chapter 17
Mark’s POV
The stairwell seemed endless. Stone walls pressed in on either side, cold and rough under our hands, but my fingers barely felt it. My chest heaved, lungs burning, as if running through the keep’s corridors weren’t enough—I could feel the bond tugging at me, pulling me forward faster than my legs could carry me. Each pulse in my chest was sharper than the last, and it wasn’t my heartbeat alone I heard.
Rhael’s footsteps pounded behind me. “Mark, slow—”
“I can’t,” I snapped, not sure if I meant it for him or myself. The energy rippling through the bond was too strong, too urgent. It carried no fear, no warning—only call. Like a beacon. Like she was waiting for us, but not in danger. Waiting to be seen.
By the time we reached the top landing, the moon had moved sli
