Is it fueled by the irritation that Kaelzar doesn’t remember that today is my twenty-first birthday?
It lingers at the edges of my ribs like an old bruise. I told him once. Apparently, once wasn’t enough. He doesn’t owe me anything, but his attention to a detail like this stings in a way I hadn’t expected. As if I’ve been left standing in a doorway I thought he might step through, only to realize he never intended to. It’s foolish to dwell on it.
I swing.
The moment the whip cracks, a pulse surges down its length, a shiver that prickles up my arm and settles in my teeth. The decay doesn’t just spark, it lurches, flooding forward before I fully grasp what I’ve done.
The tip snaps against a weed, and the serrated leaves wither instantly, their edges curling inward as the stem blackens and collapses. The vibrant wildflowers surrounding it remain untouched.
I freeze, my heart hammering, breath uneven. Across from me, Kaelzar shifts. Not much, just the slow drag of his fingers across his palm. His often impassive gaze flickers with pride.
“I did it!” I exclaim, excitement bubbling in my chest, the weight of failure lifting all at once.
Before I can stop myself, I throw my arms around Kaelzar in a burst of unrestrained joy. He stiffens beneath my touch, his body locking as if I’ve startled something deeply ingrained, some instinct that tells him to pull away.
For a breath, I brace for rejection, for the sharp withdrawal of his presence.
But he doesn’t move.
The hesitation is brief, a flicker of restraint, before something in him shifts. His arms lift, tentative at first, then deliberate. One hand settles lightly at my back. The other lingers just above my waist, as if he’s unsure whether he’s allowed to hold me there.
My cheek brushes against his bare chest, warm beneath the open line of his vest. I become painfully aware of the steady rise and fall of his breath. The scent of him fills my lungs.
He exhales a measured breath as if he doesn’t trust whatever wordsmight come. Slowly, I look up, my arms still around him.
Our eyes meet.
His storm-gray gaze locks onto mine, dark as thunderclouds over deep water. The quiet between us thickens, no longer empty, no longer cold, but something weighted, something alive.
I don’t pull away.
Neither does he.
Then suddenly, the air feels stretched too thin, the hush between us pressing inward, demanding to be broken. A ripple of unease brushes the edges of my senses, faint but insistent.
Kaelzar hears it first. I feel the change in him before I understand why. His body tenses, not in resistance this time, but in withdrawal.
“Ray! Ray!” Eva’s voice shatters the moment like glass.
I startle, blinking as if waking from a dream.
“Ryker is coming!” Eva calls.
I step back just as Eva comes bounding up the hill, waving wildly.
Kaelzar’s hand drops from my back. His fingers twitch once, as if resisting the urge to hold on, then curl into a fist. His face closes off in an instant, his expression hardening into a mask of indifference. He moves away abruptly, putting space between us.
Cool air rushes into the absence he leaves behind.
My stomach plummets. I turn, following Eva’s outstretched hand, and see the entourage making their way across the field.
Nobles in fine silks and glittering jewels move in a procession, their laughter carrying on the breeze. At the center is Ryker, his golden hair catching the light as he strides forward with the effortless ease of someone who has never doubted his place in the world.
A sharp, unexplainable panic flares in my chest. I turn back to Kaelzar?—
But he’s already stepping into his shadows. They curl around him like smoke, swallowing him whole as he disappears without a word.
A pang of guilt and loss strikes me at once. I don’t want him to leave. But I can’t imagine him staying either. Having both Ryker and Kaelzar here at the same time feels... wrong.
