His eyes were on me.
Still. Focused.
Burning.
I tried not to look back.
I failed.
Our gazes locked—just for a moment—and my breath caught. There was something raw in him now, stripped of the beast, stripped of everything but want. My stomach twisted, my fingers clenched, and I blinked away quickly, heat crawling up my neck.
I looked anywhere but at him.
I spotted the small vial beside the stone wall—amber glass, half full of that sacred oil Thalira had left for me. For him. For the healing.
I reached for it with a breath that barely made it out clean.
It was quiet in the cave—almost too quiet. Like the shadows themselves were watching.
I stepped forward. One foot in front of the other. My legs still trembled, and not from the cold. The robe clung to my damp skin. The chains bindi
