Chapter thirty three- Shadows between us
Liora left the testing chamber with her pulse still racing.
Ashwing stayed glued to her side, his body low and tense, wings half?spread as if expecting danger to leap from every shadow.
She kept her hand on his scales, grounding herself in his warmth, but her mind was still trapped inside that room — the needles, the examiners' eyes, Kael's voice cutting through the tension like a blade.
She didn't know how long she walked before the world around her began to feel real again.
Students stared as she passed, whispering behind their hands. Ashwing's fury had shaken the entire dining hall earlier; everyone had seen it. She kept her head down and walked faster, wishing she could disappear into the ground.
Mira spotted her first.
"There you are!" Mira rushed toward her, eyes wide. "What happened? You were gone forever!"
Aiden wasn't far behind. He looked pale, tense, and far more worried than she expected after the distance between them these past days.
"Liora," he said, stepping closer. "Are you alright?"
Liora forced a breath. "I'm fine."
"You don't look fine," Mira said.
Aiden nodded. "You really don't."
Liora swallowed. She couldn't tell them the truth — not about the blood, not about the examiners, not about Kael stepping between her and danger. And definitely not about the kiss.
"They just needed more tests," she said. "It's over."
Aiden studied her face, searching for something she couldn't give him. But then he exhaled, shoulders loosening just a little.
"Good," he said softly. "I'm glad you're okay."
The warmth in his voice surprised her. After turning him down, she thought she'd lost him completely. But now, seeing the concern in his eyes, something eased inside her — a small, fragile relief she didn't know she needed.
Mira nudged her. "See? He still cares."
Liora didn't answer. She didn't trust her voice.
Combat practice came too soon.
The field buzzed with energy, students pairing off with wooden weapons. Liora tried to focus, but her mind kept drifting — to the chamber, to Kael's warning, to the way his eyes had flicked to her the moment she entered.
Her opponent lunged.
Liora reacted before she could think.
She blocked, pivoted, and swept his legs out from under him in one clean, fluid motion. He hit the ground with a thud that echoed across the field.
For a heartbeat, everything went still.
Then Mira shouted, "YES! That's my girl!"
Aiden laughed under his breath. "Remind me never to spar with you."
Liora flushed, breathless. It felt good — to be strong, to be capable, to feel something other than fear.
But when she glanced toward the instructors' platform, her breath caught.
Kael was there.
Watching her.
His expression was the same cold mask he always wore — unreadable, composed, distant. But for a single heartbeat, before he hid it, she saw something flicker in his eyes.
Pride.
Real pride.
It vanished almost instantly, buried beneath rigid control. But she had seen it. And the knowledge warmed her in a way she didn't know how to handle.
She looked away quickly, pulse racing.
By nightfall, her nerves were frayed.
She found herself walking toward the training courtyard again, her steps slow but inevitable. Ashwing followed until the edge of the courtyard, then curled up in the shadows, watching her with unblinking golden eyes.
Kael was already there.
He always was.
He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, posture straight, gaze fixed on the moonlit stones. He didn't turn when she approached, but she felt the shift in the air — the subtle tension that always came when they were alone.
"Ready," he said.
She wasn't. Not even close. But she nodded anyway.
They trained in silence. Kael's movements were sharp, precise, controlled. Liora tried to match him, but her mind kept drifting — to the kiss in the testing chamber, to the way he had pulled her in, to the way he had pushed her away afterward.
Her breath hitched. Her guard slipped.
Kael's strike stopped inches from her throat.
"Focus," he said.
"I'm trying."
"Try harder."
His voice was cold, clipped, distant — the same tone he used when he was trying to bury something. She felt frustration rise in her chest, hot and sharp.
"Kael," she said. "Stop."
He didn't.
He stepped forward, forcing her back, pushing her harder, faster, sharper. She blocked, stumbled, blocked again, her breath coming too fast.
"Kael—"
"Again."
"No."
He froze.
The courtyard went silent.
Liora's chest rose and fell too quickly. Her hands trembled. Her heart pounded so loudly she could barely hear her own thoughts.
"I can't do this," she whispered. "Not when you pretend nothing happened."
Kael's jaw tightened. "It was a lapse."
"It wasn't."
"Liora—"
She stepped forward, closing the distance between them.
"Stop lying," she said softly.
Kael's breath caught.
And before she could think, before she could talk herself out of it, before she could remember all the reasons she shouldn't —
She kissed him.
His lips were cool at first, cold from the night air, firm and unmoving for a single suspended heartbeat.
Then she felt the shock hit him — the way his breath stuttered against her mouth, the way his fingers curled reflexively at his sides.
For a moment he was stone, frozen, as if the world had stopped around him.
Then he wasn't.
Heat rushed into the kiss as Kael's restraint snapped.
His hand slid to her waist, steady and unyielding, pulling her closer with a certainty that stole her breath.
His other hand rose to the back of her neck, his fingers threading into her hair with a grip that was controlled but trembling at the edges.
His lips pressed against hers with a force that wasn't gentle, wasn't soft — it was urgent, fierce, a collision of everything he refused to say.
His mouth was warm now, warmer than she expected, the heat spreading through her like a spark catching dry tinder.
His lips moved against hers with a precision that felt almost like training — sharp, focused, deliberate — but there was something underneath it, something raw and unguarded that made her knees weaken.
She felt the tension in him, the rigid strength of his body, the way he held himself as if he were fighting the instinct to pull her even closer.
Her hands curled into his shirt without thinking, gripping the fabric as if it were the only thing keeping her upright.
His breath mingled with hers, uneven and warm against her cheek.
The world narrowed to the press of his lips, the heat of his body, the way his control unraveled just enough for her to feel the truth beneath it.
For a heartbeat — one impossibly long, impossibly fragile heartbeat — there was no Academy, no experiments, no fear.
There was only him.
And then Ashwing roared.
The sound tore through the courtyard like thunder, shaking the stones beneath their feet.
Kael ripped himself away from her instantly, his hands dropping from her as if burned.
His breath was sharp, his chest rising and falling too quickly, but his face was already shifting — the mask slamming back into place, cold and unreadable.
Liora stumbled back a step, breathless, her lips still tingling from the heat of his. Her heart felt too big for her chest, pounding so hard she thought it might break through her ribs.
Ashwing's wings flared wide, his body coiled with tension, his golden eyes fixed on the shadows behind her.
Someone was coming.
Footsteps.
Fast.
Uneven.
Familiar.
"Liora?"
Mira.
She stepped into the courtyard, breathless, eyes wide — and froze when she saw Kael.
Her face crumpled.
"Liora... who is training you?"
Liora's throat closed.
"Mira, I—"
"You've been sneaking out every night," Mira said, her voice shaking. "You've been lying to me. Hiding things from me. And now I find you here with him?"
Liora stepped forward. "Mira, please—"
"No," Mira whispered. "I thought we were friends but you clearly don't Trust me enough to share your secrets."
She turned and walked away before Liora could speak.
Ashwing nudged Liora's shoulder, rumbling softly, but it didn't help.
Mira's footsteps echoed down the corridor long before Liora's legs remembered how to move.
The courtyard felt suddenly colder, emptier, as if the night itself had recoiled from what had just happened.
Ashwing nudged her again, his warm snout pressing against her shoulder, but even his presence couldn't steady the tightness in her chest.
She forced herself to breathe. Then she forced herself to walk.
"Mira," she called, but her voice cracked, barely carrying across the stones.
Mira didn't slow.
Liora followed her through the courtyard, past the silent training grounds, and into the dimly lit dormitory hall.
Every step felt heavier than the last. She didn't know what she would say.
She didn't know how to explain something she barely understood herself.
But she couldn't let Mira walk away like that. Not tonight.
When she reached their room, the door was already half?closed. Liora pushed it open gently.
Mira stood with her back to her, arms wrapped tightly around herself, shoulders trembling with the effort of holding everything in. The lamplight cast a soft glow across the room, making the silence feel even heavier.
Liora closed the door behind her.
"Mira," she said quietly.
Mira didn't turn. "I don't want to talk right now."
Liora swallowed. "I know. But I need to."
Mira's voice came out tight. "Why? So you can lie to me again?"
The words hit harder than any strike Kael had ever thrown at her. Liora stepped closer, her hands shaking slightly.
"I'm not lying to you," she said. "I'm telling you everything I can."
Mira let out a sharp, disbelieving breath. "Everything you can? Liora, you sneak out every night. You disappear without a word. You come back exhausted and shaken. And now I find you alone with Kael — Kael — and you expect me to believe you're telling me everything?"
Liora's throat tightened. She had known this moment would come eventually, but she hadn't expected it to hurt this much.
"I wish I could tell you everything," she said softly. "I really do. But some things... some things aren't mine to tell."
Mira finally turned, her eyes red and shining. "Then whose are they?"
Liora hesitated. She couldn't say Kael's name. She couldn't say the King. She couldn't say experiments or blood or danger. She couldn't say anything that would drag Mira into the darkness she was barely surviving herself.
So she said the only truth she could.
"They're secrets that could hurt people if I say them out loud," she whispered. "And I hate it. I hate keeping them. I feel like I'm drowning in them, Mira. Every day. Every night. I wish I could tell you everything. I wish I could just... breathe. But I can't. Not yet."
Mira's expression wavered, torn between hurt and understanding.
"You could have told me you were training with him," she said. "You could have told me that much."
Liora shook her head. "I couldn't. Not even that. It wasn't my choice."
Mira's voice softened, but the pain didn't fade. "You're my best friend."
"I know," Liora whispered. "And that's why I'm trying so hard not to drag you into something dangerous."
Mira looked at her for a long moment, her breath unsteady. Then she sat down on her bed, shoulders slumping.
"I don't want you to drown alone," she said quietly.
Liora's chest tightened. She sat beside her, leaving just enough space that Mira could move away if she wanted to.
"I don't want to be alone," Liora said. "But I don't know how to keep you safe and keep you close at the same time."
Mira wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I don't need you to protect me from everything."
"I know," Liora said. "But I need to protect you from this."
Silence settled between them — not cold, not angry, just heavy with everything unsaid.
After a long moment, Mira exhaled.
"I'm still hurt," she said. "I'm not going to pretend I'm not."
"I know."
"But I'm here."
Liora's breath shook. "Thank you."
Mira nodded, though her eyes were still sad. "Just... don't shut me out completely."
"I won't," Liora said. "Not unless I have no choice."
Mira didn't smile, but she didn't turn away either. It was enough — a fragile, trembling thread between them, but still a thread.
Liora lay awake long after Mira fell asleep, staring at the ceiling, her mind a storm of secrets, danger, and the memory of Kael's lips on hers — warm, fierce, and impossible to forget.
She wished she could tell Mira everything.
She wished she could tell someone.
But the truth was a cage she couldn't escape.