Chapter Fifty-Seven
KAEL
The world wavers at the edges, exhaustion pressing down like a blade to my throat.
The cloak is still in place. I feel the threads of shadow stretching thin, unraveling, but I grit my teeth and hold them.
Nyx. Aura. Just a little longer. If I let go now, The Joining’s soldiers would see them—would know.
My breath shudders in my lungs.
And then I see her. Elyssara.
Standing apart from the others, magic still humming in the air around her. Untouched. Unshaken. A star in the dark.
And I wonder if she even knows the weight of what she just did.
Gods. She’s fucking powerful.
Therion and Merrik haul me to my feet, sweat still beading along my skin, my legs nearly giving out beneath me. Every part of me feels hollowed out, as if the magic siphoned straight through my bones.
Jax whistles low, arms crossed as she fixes Elyssara with an unreadable stare. “Well, that was something. Probably could’ve done that from the start and saved us the hassle, eh?”
“Jaxxy,” Merrik rubs his temples, exasperated. “Can you ever just... not?”
“What? Just saying.” She grins. “If we’re all done being dramatic, can we go before the next round of bastards show up?”
Therion claps a hand on my shoulder, steadying me. “We need to move, brother. Now. We need to get into The Wastes before anyone else comes looking for... her.”
His eyes flick toward Elyssara.
She’s standing apart from the others, shoulders stiff, hands clenched at her sides. Tortured. Confused.
I fall back from the others, slowing my pace to match hers, giving myself a reprieve.
“So now it’s you saving me, Duskae.” I try to keep it light, give her something to hold onto. “I think I’d make a decent damsel in distress, don’t you?”
I brush my fingers along hers, just once. A grounding tether. She doesn’t pull away.
She doesn’t blink.
“What... was that?” Her voice is low, almost raw.
I don’t have to ask what she means. I know. Because I felt her, too.
Her panic for me. Her darkness.
I exhale. “I... don’t exactly know.”
Her eyes flick to mine—silver-rimmed, bright with emotion she doesn’t quite let fall.
“I felt you,” she whispers. “And I think... I’ve been feeling it for a while.”
I swallow hard.
“I know.” My voice drops to something quieter. “I feel you, too.” And I think it’s only getting stronger.