Chapter 30
Mara
Dawn comes too fast.
I’ve been awake for hours. Lying beside Kael, his arm around me, both of us pretending to sleep. I still feel the bond. A constant awareness that’s about to be severed.
Soon, Elena and Lila will knock on that door.
And everything changes.
“You’re not sleeping,” Kael says quietly.
“Neither are you.”
“No.”
We’re still dressed. Both of us too wired to even pretend to be resting. His shirt is wrinkled from where I’ve been pressed against him. My hair is a disaster. We look like we survived something.
Which, I guess, we did.
“I should get up,” I say. “Brush my teeth. Try to look less like a horror movie extra.”
“You look fine.”
“I look like I haven’t slept in a week. Which—” I stop. “Okay, fair, I basically haven’t.”
“Mara.”
Something in his voice makes me look up. His eyes are steady. Certain.
“Whatever happens,” he says, “you were not a mistake. This—” He gestures between us. “It matters. Regardless of what we feel after.”
My throat closes. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t be all profound this early in the morning. I can’t—” My voice cracks. “I can’t handle it, K.”
He’s quiet for a moment. Then: “What do you need me to be?”
“Scared. Like me. Instead of all… calm and resigned.”
“I am scared.”
“You don’t look it.”
“Hundreds of years of practice hiding fear.” His hand finds mine. “But I am terrified. Of losing this thing we’ve built.”
“But you’re still letting them do it.”
“Because you deserve the truth.”
A knock at the door.
My heart stops.
They’re early.
“Mara?” Elena’s voice. Soft. Careful. “Can we come in?”
I look at Kael. He nods.
“Yeah,” I call out. “Come in.”
The door opens. Elena enters first, Lila behind her. Both dressed in comfortable clothes—leggings, loose shirts. Hair pulled back. Ready to work.
Elena’s eyes go to where Kael and I are still tangled together on the bed. Something flickers across her face. Concern, maybe. Or sympathy.
“You don’t have to do this,” she says. “We can wait. Give you more time.”
“No.” I force myself to sit up. Kael’s arm falls away. The loss is immediate. “If we wait, I’ll just keep second-guessing. Let’s do this.”
“You’re good with this, too?” Elena fixes her eyes on Kael.
“Yes.” He nods. “It is what is best for her. And this time I’ll be here, in case…” He glances at me.
“You don’t need to be afraid for her,” Lila says reassuringly.
“You don’t know what I brought her back from.” Kael’s jaw tightens. “The damage…” He shakes his head. “If your healing isn’t strong enough, she will need me.”
“Fine. Do whatever makes you feel better about this.” Lila sets a bag on the table. Starts pulling out supplies. Candles. Crystals. Herbs I don’t recognize. A small silver knife that makes my stomach flip.
“It’s not for you,” she says, noticing my expression. “The knife is symbolic. For cutting ties, not flesh.”
“Oh. Cool. Very reassuring.”
Elena sits on the edge of the bed. “As I told you yesterday, the ritual takes about thirty minutes.” She looks at Kael.
“We’ll need to break the bond in stages—severing the magical connection first, then healing the underlying injuries completely.
” She looks back at me. “You’ll feel disoriented.
Like losing a sense you didn’t know you had. ”
“And him?” I glance at Kael. He’s moved to stand near the window. Giving space. “What does he feel?”
“The same.” Lila lights the first candle. “The bond connects both of you. Breaking it affects you equally.”
“But he won’t be harmed.”
“No. Just…” Elena searches for words. “Empty. Where the bond was.”
Empty.
That’s one hell of a word. Maybe that’s the pain we both felt yesterday. Not actual hurt, just an overwhelming sense of loss.
Kael turns from the window. “I’ll be fine. Focus on yourself.”
“That’s the problem,” I mutter. “I don’t want to focus on myself. I want to—”
“What?” Elena prompts gently.
“I want to know if this is real before I lose it.”
“Then let us break the bond,” Lila says. “So you can find out.”
She’s right. I know she’s right.
Doesn’t make it easier.
“Okay.” I take a breath. “What do I need to do?”
“Let’s sit in the center of the room this time,” Elena instructs. “We’ll form a circle around you. Kael, sit outside the circle. Don’t touch her once we begin. Don’t interfere, no matter what.”
He nods. Moves to the chair. Far enough to not disrupt the magic. Close enough to see.
I settle cross-legged on the floor. The candles form a ring around me. Their light flickers, casting shadows that dance on the walls.
Elena and Lila take positions on either side. They don’t hold hands. Don’t chant or do anything dramatic. Just close their eyes and—
Magic flares.
Red and gold witch-fire blooms between their palms. It wraps around their wrists, spirals up their arms. The air in the room changes. Thickens. Tastes like ozone and something sweeter. Honey, maybe. Or vanilla.
“We’ll focus on the healing first, this time,” Lila says softly, glancing over at Kael. “So you can be certain that she’s safe.”
He nods but says nothing, eyes fixed on me.
The magic touches my chest, and everything shifts.
Warmth spreads beneath my sternum. Not Kael’s furnace heat—this is different. Gentler. Like sunlight soaking into skin after a long winter.
I gasp as something knits inside me. Ribs that had been shattered, crushed under twisted metal and fire. Lungs that had filled with blood while I drowned in my own body. The phantom pain I’d been carrying since the crash—pain I didn’t even realize was there until it vanishes.
My ribcage expands. A full breath. The first real one since the helicopter went down.
“Oh, my God.”
The tingling intensifies. Racing through tissue and bone. Sealing torn vessels. Smoothing scar tissue that hadn’t had time to form. My chest rises and falls without that weird hitch I’d gotten used to.
Elena’s magic pulses brighter. “Almost there.”
One final surge—
And I’m whole.
Not held together by Kael’s fire. Not suspended between life and death by borrowed power.
Just… me.
Complete.
“That’s the first part,” Lila murmurs. “Now we sever the bond.”
“Mara,” Elena says. Her voice sounds distant. Echoing. “This might feel strange. Don’t fight it. Just breathe.”
The magic reaches for me.
I flinch. Can’t help it.
“It’s okay,” Lila murmurs. “We’re not hurting you. Just finding the bond. Tracing its structure.”
The witch-fire touches my arm. Warm. Almost pleasant. It sinks into my skin without pain. Just pressure. Like someone pressing fingers against my ribs from the inside.
Searching.
I glance at Kael. He’s rigid in the chair. Hands gripping the armrests. Face carefully blank.
But his eyes—
His eyes are still locked on me. Burning. Intense.
The witch-fire finds what it’s looking for.
The bond flares in my chest. Bright. Hot. Suddenly visible in a way it’s never been before. Not a physical thing—I can’t actually see it—but I know it’s there. A tether running from my heart to his. Pulsing with warmth and life and connection.
“There,” Elena breathes. “I see it.”
“It’s beautiful,” Lila says quietly. “And so tangled. He really did pour everything he had into you.”
“Can you break it?” My voice sounds strange. Thin.
“Yes. But Mara—” Elena’s eyes open. Gray and serious. “Once we start, we can’t stop. If we leave it half-severed again, it could kill you both. Are you absolutely certain?”
Am I?
I look at Kael.
He meets my gaze. Doesn’t speak. Doesn’t nod or shake his head.
Just watches me. Lets me choose.
“I’m certain,” I whisper.
“Then hold still.”
The magic intensifies.
It wraps around the bond like fingers gripping a rope. Testing its strength. Finding the weakest points.
Then—
They pull.
Pain explodes in my chest.
Not physical pain. Worse than physical. It’s like someone’s undoing me from the inside. Taking pieces I didn’t know were vital and removing them.
I gasp. Try to breathe through it.
“Almost there,” Lila says. “Just a little more.”
The bond frays. Strand by strand. Each one tearing loose with a sensation like—
Like losing gravity.
Like falling and having nothing to catch me.
I’m vaguely aware of making a sound. Not quite a scream. Just a broken noise that shouldn’t come from a human throat.
Across the room, Kael surges to his feet.
“Don’t,” Elena snaps. “If you touch her now, you’ll undo everything.”
He freezes. Fists clenched. Every muscle locked. But he doesn’t move closer.
The bond is almost gone. Just a few strands left. Gossamer thin. Barely holding.
“Last one,” Elena murmurs. “Brace yourself.”
The final strand snaps.
The world goes silent.
Not actually silent. I can still hear breathing. Candles flickering. The facility’s ventilation buzzing.
But inside—
Inside, where the bond used to hum, there’s nothing.
Just vast, empty quiet.
I press my hand to my chest. As if I could physically feel the absence.
Gone.
The bond is gone.
Elena and Lila lower their hands. The witch-fire dissipates. The candles keep burning, but the magic is done.
“How do you feel?” Elena asks carefully.
How do I feel?
I take inventory. My shoulder doesn’t hurt. My ribs don’t ache. The exhaustion that’s been dragging at me for days—
Gone. Completely gone.
I’m healed. Truly, completely healed.
And I feel—
Empty.
“Mara?” Elena prompts.
“I’m okay.” My voice sounds flat. Monotone. “I’m fine.”
Liar.
I’m not fine.
I’m hollow where something vital used to live.
I look at Kael.
He’s still standing. Still frozen. His face is carefully blank, but his hands shake slightly. The only tell that he’s not as composed as he’s pretending.
“K?”
He blinks. Focuses on me. “I’m here.”
“Do you—?” I stop. Can’t finish the question.
Do you still feel anything?
The silence stretches. Neither of us moves. Neither of us speaks.
We just stare at each other across the empty space.
And I wait to see if what’s left is real.
Or if I just lost the only thing that made me matter to him.