Kael’s POV
I felt it before the doors even opened.
Not the bond.
Not her.
Something older.
Something that had no right to be awake.
The moment the chamber shifted, the air tightening in a way that didn’t belong to stone or structure, I was already moving. By the time the doors slammed open, I was there.
And she was standing too close to it.
My gaze found her instantly.
Then moved past her.
To the basin.
To the mural.
To the thing I couldn’t fully see—but could feel.
Awake.
My jaw tightened.
“What did you do?” I asked.
The question wasn’t calm.
It wasn’t controlled.
It was forced into something that resembled both.
She turned toward me, her breathing uneven, her eyes wide with something deeper than fear. Confusion. Shock. Recognition.
The worst combination.
“I didn’t me
