The forest swallowed us the moment we crossed beyond the chapel’s broken threshold.
Kael moved like he belonged to the dark—silent, certain, every step measured. I stumbled once on a root hidden beneath moss, and his grip tightened instantly, steadying me without slowing his pace. The cloak hung heavy around my shoulders, smelling faintly of pine, iron, and him. Each breath I took felt fuller than the last, as though the air itself bent to make room for me.
For us.
Behind us, the chapel loomed in silence, its stones already fading into shadow. I didn’t look back. Whatever version of me had curled beneath Mrs. Hawthorne’s shawl belonged to that ruin now.
The bond hummed between us, no longer frantic—alert. Watchful. It stretched forward like a thread tugging us deeper into the woods, gu
