Kai POV
Liora sways again, the vision’s aftershock dragging at her like invisible chains. My arms snap around her waist before she can fall, pulling her flush against me—her body warm and trembling, soft curves moulding perfectly to the hard planes of my chest. The dagger’s ruby presses between us, pulsing like a frantic heartbeat, but it’s her heartbeat I feel most—rapid, wild, thundering against my ribs. Her wildflower scent floods me, sweet and heady, layered with the salt of sweat and the faint ozone of spent magic. Atlas roars inside me, fur rippling, claws scraping at my control, demanding I taste her, claim her, bury myself in her until the world disappears.
“I’ve got you,” I growl, voice gravel-rough, lips brushing the shell of her ear. But it’s a lie—I don’t have her. Not like t
