But she knew one thing with startling clarity: whatever happened next, she could never again pretend she was just a passenger in all of this.
Her choice mattered.
To him.
To the Vykan.
To this entire world.
And he was nearly at the door.
CHAPTER 28
Kyrax was back.
Morgan justknew.
She sat in the center of his massive bed, legs folded beneath her, spine straight, hands resting loosely on her knees. She wore one of the soft charcoal garments Raeska had given her, her hair falling over her shoulders, her breathing measured and slow.
Meditating, or something close to it.
The bond pulled tight between them, a shimmering thread of awareness that hummed through her nerves.
When she opened her eyes, she was calm and focused.
Waiting.
Her gaze met the red glow of his mask without hesitation, without fear. She knew he was there; she had felt him crossing the threshold long before he stepped inside.
And the moment she saw him, her body reacted.
A low, insistent ache unfurled in her chest, in her belly, between her thighs.
Need. Recognition. His presence stabilizing her, drawing her in.
You came back,she thought—and knew he heard it.
He didn’t move. The silence between them deepened, charged with everything they’d shared, everything still unspoken, everything about to change.
She drew in a careful breath, then exhaled.
“I know what happened,” she said softly. “I heard you.”
His stance shifted barely, a subtle bracing.
She felt it ripple across the bond: surprise, restraint, a flick of tension that would have been invisible to anyone else.
She rose from the bed with slow, graceful certainty and stepped toward him.
“I know you’ll lose everything if this fails,” she continued. “Your rank. Your bastion. Your life.”
She stopped a few feet from him, tipping her head back to meet the fiery glow of his eyes.
“And you chose me anyway.”
The words hovered between them, weighty, irrevocable.
His answer wasn’t vocal—but she felt it ripple through her thoughts like heat:I did.
