The moment the bond surged to stop me, I knew the truth I was about to speak was something it could not allow.
The force did not strike outward, and it did not break through me violently, but it rose from within, tightening around my chest, my thoughts, my voice, as if something woven into me was reacting before I could even complete the choice.
My breath caught.
Not from fear.
From resistance.
The bond was not just connecting us.
It was controlling the outcome.
Kael did not move, but I felt the shift in him immediately, his presence sharpening, locking onto me with a focus that carried more than attention.
“Say it,” he said. The system pulsed around us, reacting to the spike in pressure, stabilizing and tightening at the same time, as if everything was aligning to prevent the frac
