QUENNOR’S POV
Her sapphire eyes fixate on me, searching for the answer I can't bring myself to say aloud. There's a quiet yearning in them, a hope that stabs deeper than any blade I've ever known. The bond between us, raw and unmarked, crackles with suppressed energy. Every second we're near each other, the pull intensifies. The mark calls to me, calls to us. But I'm not ready. I can't bring her into the darkness I’ve lived in, not when she still sees me as something redeemable.
The truth is, the moment I mark her, she’ll feel it all, my rage, my guilt, the weight of every soul I’ve ever taken. She’ll see the blood on my hands, and I’m terrified she’ll recoil in disgust. Not because she’s weak. No, she’s anything but. It’s because she’s mine, and I don’t know if I could bear it if she lo
