POV: Kael
The moon hung low and heavy, casting silver shadows through the ruined trees. Aria lay in my arms, her breathing shallow but steady, her skin pale with the glow of spent magic. She was here. She was real. But something inside her had changed—something in both of us had.
I held her tighter, terrified to let go. Her return had been violent, almost explosive. One moment, the Echo Bride had screamed and writhed in my grasp. The next, light burst from her chest, and Aria gasped back to life like she’d been underwater for years.
Her eyes were different now. Not haunted exactly—more... awakened. Like she’d seen things that no one should, and walked out the other side scarred but stronger.
I couldn’t stop shaking.
I wasn’t afraid of her. I was afraid of what I hadn’t done. I hadn’t
