Flirting with the dark, p.13
Flirting With the Dark, page 13
Beautiful.
Bright.
Burning.
But Kael wasn’t showing her the beauty.
He showed her the truth buried underneath:
Elias’s shadow—
embedded deep in her light—
not as an invader,
but as a mark.
A vow.
A promise.
A claim.
And Rowan saw it:
Elias had given her his shadow before she even knew what he was.
Before she chose him.
Before she understood the cost.
Her breath shattered.
Kael leaned in.
“He bound you before you could say no.”
Elias reached them at last—grabbing Rowan, pulling her back, wrapping her in his arms as if he could shield her from everything.
“Let her go!” Rowan sobbed.
Elias froze.
“Rowan—please—don’t say that—”
She tore away from both of them, stumbling backward, chest burning, lungs shaking.
“Just—just stay back—both of you!”
Elias stopped like she’d struck him.
Kael smiled.
Chaos raged around them, but the cliff felt impossibly still.
“Rowan...” Elias whispered, stepping forward one trembling inch.
His eyes were raw.
Shattered.
Terrified.
“I didn’t claim you.
I didn’t choose for you.”
Rowan’s voice broke.
“Then why is your shadow in my light?”
Elias lowered his head, pain twisting every line of him.
“Because,” he whispered,
“I loved you before I understood what loving you meant.”
Rowan flinched.
Kael stepped closer, smug and patient.
“Come with me, little light. Let me teach you what your power really is. Without chains.”
Elias moved like he’d run through fire.
“NO! Rowan—choose me—choose us—don’t let him twist—”
Rowan’s knees buckled.
She looked at Elias—
his desperation, his shadows trembling with fear—
and at Kael—
cold, certain, wanting her for entirely different reasons.
Her light flickered violently.
Suddenly—
The cliff beneath her split.
Rowan slipped.
Elias lunged.
Kael lunged.
Rowan screamed—
And the bond exploded.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Rowan didn’t hit the ground.
The ground hit her.
The world rushed up so fast she barely had time to scream before her body slammed into a nest of branches. Bark tore her arms. Air punched out of her lungs. The world spun in a violent blur—
And then she was rolling, tumbling through leaves and rocks and cold night air until she hit the earth with a sharp, aching jolt.
Rowan gasped.
Pain radiated through her ribs.
Her ears rang.
Her vision flickered.
But she was alive.
Barely.
She lay there for several breaths, stunned, staring up at the jagged line of the cliff above her. Shadows swarmed its edge—Kael’s legion still raging.
And two figures fighting to reach the drop.
One shadow.
One light.
“Elias...” she whispered, voice hoarse and broken.
Her bond with him pulsed erratically—faint, unsteady, flickering like a dying ember.
Rowan’s throat tightened.
“Elias! I’m down here!”
No answer.
Only chaos.
The legion roared.
Shadows swarmed the cliff.
A furious voice tore through the storm—
“ROWAN!”
Elias.
Her heart stuttered.
But his voice sounded distant. Muffled. Like something was cutting into the bond.
Kael.
Fear shot through her.
Rowan forced herself upright, pain slicing through her side like glass. She staggered to her feet, clutching her ribs.
“I have to get back up there,” she breathed.
But the forest didn’t give her the chance.
A dark-born landed in front of her with a snarl.
Rowan stumbled back, palms sparking instinctively.
“Stay away!”
Her light flared—weak, ragged, unstable.
The creature hissed, recoiled—and then lunged.
Rowan’s scream tore out of her as she threw her hands up—
Light erupted too fast—
A blast ripped from her chest, slamming the dark-born backward into a tree, dissolving it into smoke.
Rowan gasped, knees buckling.
“No—no, no—this is too much—”
Her light crackled beneath her skin, burning with panic.
She pressed her hand to her chest, shaking.
She’d never used her power without Elias beside her.
She’d never stabilized alone.
Her breath hitched.
“Elias... I need you...”
A faint pulse flickered down the bond—pain, rage, desperation—but distant.
And then—
Kael’s voice slid into her mind like frost.
“Little light...”
“Why run from what you are?”
She clutched her head.
“No—get out—”
“You stand in the dark alone.
And he can’t reach you.
Not now.”
Rowan’s heart plummeted.
She pushed back against the voice—hard—forcing her light to surge in protest.
Kael hissed in irritation.
“Careful.”
“If you flare too hard, you’ll burn yourself.”
“I’d rather burn myself than listen to you.”
Kael chuckled—soft, dangerous.
“Oh, little light. You’re trembling.”
“Let me help you.”
“Never.”
A cold hush fell over the trees.
“Then he will.”
Rowan’s breath stilled.
Elias?
She strained down the bond—
A flicker.
A pulse.
A flash of pain.
Elias fighting—
Fighting HARD—
his shadows raging, his fear cracking through the connection—
Then—
“ROWAN! WHERE ARE YOU?”
Rowan sobbed in relief.
“I’m here! I’m here—down the cliff—Elias, I’m—”
The bond sputtered violently.
Kael slammed into it with a surge of dark energy.
Rowan cried out, falling to her knees as her chest burned.
“STOP—”
Kael whispered:
“He can’t hear you now.”
“No!”
Rowan pushed inward, searching for Elias, clawing through the static—
Another dark-born burst from the shadows.
Rowan spun, light flaring on reflex—
It hit the creature, but too weak, too unfocused.
The monster staggered, then lunged again.
Rowan stumbled backward, tripping over roots—
Fell.
Her light flickered out completely.
The creature loomed above her, claws reaching—
Rowan threw up her arms—
But nothing happened.
Her light was empty.
“No—please—please—”
The dark-born screamed and dove for her—
And a shadow ripped it apart midair.
Rowan froze.
Not Kael’s shadow.
Not a seeker’s shadow.
Elias’s.
Elias burst through the trees like a storm breaking, his entire body glowing with rage and fear, shadows swirling violently around him.
“ROWAN!”
Her breath hitched.
Elias fell to his knees beside her, grabbing her face with shaking hands, pulling her against his chest like he was terrified she would vanish.
“Gods—Rowan—Rowan—are you hurt—did he touch you—did you—”
His voice broke entirely.
Rowan clung to him, sobbing into his shoulder.
“I—I couldn’t find you—my power—I couldn’t—Elias—”
“I know,” he whispered, clutching her tighter.
“I know. I felt you fall—I tried to reach you—I’m so sorry—”
His shadows wrapped around her protectively, trembling with relief.
Rowan pulled back enough to see his face.
He looked wrecked.
Terrified.
Breathless.
Like he’d aged a century in the minutes she’d been out of reach.
“Elias...” Rowan whispered, touching his cheek gently.
He closed his eyes at the touch, leaning into her hand like he needed it to breathe.
“I thought I lost you,” he said, voice raw.
“If Kael had gotten to you—if anything had touched you—Rowan, I—”
He couldn’t say the rest.
Rowan swallowed, tears burning.
“You didn’t lose me.”
A beat passed—
warm, fragile, breaking and healing all at once.
But then—
Elias stiffened.
Rowan felt it too.
A presence behind them.
Cold.
Quiet.
Patient.
Kael stepped out of the shadows, alone.
His legion hung back.
He smiled.
“Found her, did you?”
Elias stood slowly, shadows rising like a storm behind him.
Rowan rose too, light trembling beneath her skin.
Kael tilted his head, eyes gleaming.
“Good,” he murmured.
“Now we can begin.”
Rowan felt Elias’s fingers brush hers—barely—searching.
She intertwined her hand with his.
The bond flared warm again.
Kael’s smile sharpened.
“Choose, little light.”
“Him... or power.”
Elias inhaled sharply.
And Rowan knew—
This time, running wasn’t an option.
This time, she had to stand.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The forest held its breath—
as if even the shadows didn’t dare interrupt what came next.
Rowan’s fingers tightened around Elias’s.
Kael smiled, amused at the gesture.
“A choice,” Kael murmured, spreading his hands.
“Love... or power.”
Elias’s shadow recoiled, tense and trembling.
“Rowan, don’t listen to him.”
Kael ignored him completely.
“You could shine brighter than any flare in generations,” he told Rowan softly.
“Unbound. Untamed. Unclaimed.”
Elias flinched at the word.
Rowan felt it through the bond like a bruise pressed too hard.
Kael continued, circling slowly.
“Or you can stay tethered to him,” he added with a tilt of his head, “and burn yourself out wasting your strength to protect someone who—”
Elias’s shadows lashed outward.
“Kael, I swear—”
“—isn’t even your equal,” Kael finished, amused.
Rowan stepped forward before she even realized she was doing it.
“Stop talking like I’m not standing right here.”
Kael’s smile widened.
“Ah. There she is.”
Elias reached for her wrist.
“Rowan—”
“I can speak for myself,” she whispered.
It wasn’t anger.
It was exhaustion.
And something sharper—clarity.
Kael’s head tilted slightly.
“Then speak.”
Rowan swallowed.
Her voice shook—but it didn’t break.
“I don’t want power for the sake of power,” she said.
“I don’t want to be a weapon. I don’t want to burn the world just because I can.”
Kael’s amusement dimmed.
Elias’s grip tightened gently.
Rowan looked up at Kael, chest rising and falling in trembling breaths.
“And I don’t want to be manipulated or used. Not by you. And not by him.”
Elias froze.
Kael’s brows lifted.
“You think he hasn’t used you?” Kael murmured.
“You awakened because his shadow summoned you.”
Rowan’s jaw clenched.
“And you’re trying to use me right now.”
Kael’s eyes glinted with cold approval.
“Good girl.”
Elias snarled.
“Kael—”
“BUT,” Rowan snapped.
Kael’s smile faded.
Rowan inhaled deeply.
“I—am not choosing either of you right now.”
Elias’s breath hitched.
“Rowan—”
Kael blinked, actually taken aback.
Rowan shook her head, stepping back from both men.
“You both keep acting like I’m something to claim or steal or awaken. But I’m the one living inside this power. I’m the one who can’t breathe half the time because I don’t know what I am.”
Her voice cracked.
“And none of you have told me the truth.”
Kael’s gaze sharpened.
“About what?”
Rowan met his eyes.
“I want to know what I am. All of it. Not your twisted version. Not Elias’s terrified half-truth. The real thing.”
Kael regarded her in silence, expression unreadable.
Elias stepped closer, voice barely air.
“Rowan, you’re a flare. A powerful one, yes, but—”
“No.”
Her heart hammered.
“I’m something different.”
Elias went still.
Kael’s smile returned, slow and delighted.
“She feels it,” Kael murmured. “Good.”
Rowan swallowed hard.
“Tell me.”
Kael stepped toward her.
Elias’s shadows bristled.
“Stay back,” Elias hissed.
Kael ignored him.
“You didn’t wonder,” Kael asked softly, “why your light didn’t behave like other flares? Why it doesn’t just illuminate or defend... but unravels?”
Rowan’s pulse shook.
“I thought that was—rare.”
“Oh, it is,” Kael said.
“For flares.”
He leaned in just slightly.
Rowan forced herself not to flinch.
“But you, little light...”
His voice softened.
“You’re not just a flare.”
Elias’s voice shook.
“Kael. STOP.”
Kael kept speaking.
“You’re a fissure-born.”
Rowan’s breath stumbled.
“A what?”
Elias closed his eyes like he’d been stabbed.
Kael smiled.
“Light that was forged in the crack between realms. Light that isn’t meant to balance shadow... but to break it.”
Rowan took a step back.
“That’s not possible.”
“It is,” Kael murmured.
“And it explains everything.”
Her early awakening.
Her uncontrolled bursts.
Her unraveling ability.
The sanctuary’s reaction to her.
Elias’s shadow clinging to her like salvation and danger intertwined.
Rowan’s heart pounded in her ribs.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she whispered—
but she wasn’t looking at Kael.
She was looking at Elias.
Elias swallowed hard, eyes full of torment.
“Rowan,” he whispered, “I didn’t know for certain—”
“But you suspected,” Rowan breathed.
His silence was answer enough.
Kael stepped closer.
Rowan stepped away.
“You belong with me,” Kael said softly.
“You were born of the fissure. You can unmake darkness—and light. You can rule both.”
Elias’s shadows tore through the ground.
“RUN,” he snapped, grabbing Rowan’s hand.
“Rowan, NOW—”
Kael lifted his fingers.
A wave of dark energy slammed outward—
knocking Elias and Rowan apart like two magnets forced to separate.
The bond snapped tight—
then went agonizingly silent.
Rowan hit the ground hard.
Elias shouted her name, shadows surging desperately—
Kael grabbed Rowan’s wrist, holding her in place with effortless strength.
She gasped, light flickering in panic.
Kael leaned down, voice soft and terrifying.
“You were never meant to be a flare,” he whispered.
“You were meant to be mine.”
Rowan’s heart seized.
Her light sparked.
And Elias’s scream tore through the night.
“ROWAN!”
His voice shattered.
“DON’T LET HIM TAKE YOU!”
Rowan felt the bond throttle awake—
wild, frantic, filled with Elias’s terror—
And in that instant she made her choice.
Not of love.
Not of allegiance.
But of herself.
Rowan’s light detonated.
Kael staggered back, blindsided.
Shadows shrieked away from her skin.
Rowan rose—shaking, furious, terrified—and whispered:
“I belong to myself.”
The bond with Elias roared alive again.
Bright.
Burning.
Choosing her.
Kael’s expression darkened.
“This,” he hissed, “is only the beginning.”
Wind whipped the leaves.
Tree limbs bent under the pressure.
Kael’s legion screeched and surged.
Elias reached her, shadows coiling around her protectively.
And Rowan realized—
Her identity wasn’t a curse.
It was a weapon.
And the war had finally begun.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Bright.
Burning.
But Kael wasn’t showing her the beauty.
He showed her the truth buried underneath:
Elias’s shadow—
embedded deep in her light—
not as an invader,
but as a mark.
A vow.
A promise.
A claim.
And Rowan saw it:
Elias had given her his shadow before she even knew what he was.
Before she chose him.
Before she understood the cost.
Her breath shattered.
Kael leaned in.
“He bound you before you could say no.”
Elias reached them at last—grabbing Rowan, pulling her back, wrapping her in his arms as if he could shield her from everything.
“Let her go!” Rowan sobbed.
Elias froze.
“Rowan—please—don’t say that—”
She tore away from both of them, stumbling backward, chest burning, lungs shaking.
“Just—just stay back—both of you!”
Elias stopped like she’d struck him.
Kael smiled.
Chaos raged around them, but the cliff felt impossibly still.
“Rowan...” Elias whispered, stepping forward one trembling inch.
His eyes were raw.
Shattered.
Terrified.
“I didn’t claim you.
I didn’t choose for you.”
Rowan’s voice broke.
“Then why is your shadow in my light?”
Elias lowered his head, pain twisting every line of him.
“Because,” he whispered,
“I loved you before I understood what loving you meant.”
Rowan flinched.
Kael stepped closer, smug and patient.
“Come with me, little light. Let me teach you what your power really is. Without chains.”
Elias moved like he’d run through fire.
“NO! Rowan—choose me—choose us—don’t let him twist—”
Rowan’s knees buckled.
She looked at Elias—
his desperation, his shadows trembling with fear—
and at Kael—
cold, certain, wanting her for entirely different reasons.
Her light flickered violently.
Suddenly—
The cliff beneath her split.
Rowan slipped.
Elias lunged.
Kael lunged.
Rowan screamed—
And the bond exploded.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Rowan didn’t hit the ground.
The ground hit her.
The world rushed up so fast she barely had time to scream before her body slammed into a nest of branches. Bark tore her arms. Air punched out of her lungs. The world spun in a violent blur—
And then she was rolling, tumbling through leaves and rocks and cold night air until she hit the earth with a sharp, aching jolt.
Rowan gasped.
Pain radiated through her ribs.
Her ears rang.
Her vision flickered.
But she was alive.
Barely.
She lay there for several breaths, stunned, staring up at the jagged line of the cliff above her. Shadows swarmed its edge—Kael’s legion still raging.
And two figures fighting to reach the drop.
One shadow.
One light.
“Elias...” she whispered, voice hoarse and broken.
Her bond with him pulsed erratically—faint, unsteady, flickering like a dying ember.
Rowan’s throat tightened.
“Elias! I’m down here!”
No answer.
Only chaos.
The legion roared.
Shadows swarmed the cliff.
A furious voice tore through the storm—
“ROWAN!”
Elias.
Her heart stuttered.
But his voice sounded distant. Muffled. Like something was cutting into the bond.
Kael.
Fear shot through her.
Rowan forced herself upright, pain slicing through her side like glass. She staggered to her feet, clutching her ribs.
“I have to get back up there,” she breathed.
But the forest didn’t give her the chance.
A dark-born landed in front of her with a snarl.
Rowan stumbled back, palms sparking instinctively.
“Stay away!”
Her light flared—weak, ragged, unstable.
The creature hissed, recoiled—and then lunged.
Rowan’s scream tore out of her as she threw her hands up—
Light erupted too fast—
A blast ripped from her chest, slamming the dark-born backward into a tree, dissolving it into smoke.
Rowan gasped, knees buckling.
“No—no, no—this is too much—”
Her light crackled beneath her skin, burning with panic.
She pressed her hand to her chest, shaking.
She’d never used her power without Elias beside her.
She’d never stabilized alone.
Her breath hitched.
“Elias... I need you...”
A faint pulse flickered down the bond—pain, rage, desperation—but distant.
And then—
Kael’s voice slid into her mind like frost.
“Little light...”
“Why run from what you are?”
She clutched her head.
“No—get out—”
“You stand in the dark alone.
And he can’t reach you.
Not now.”
Rowan’s heart plummeted.
She pushed back against the voice—hard—forcing her light to surge in protest.
Kael hissed in irritation.
“Careful.”
“If you flare too hard, you’ll burn yourself.”
“I’d rather burn myself than listen to you.”
Kael chuckled—soft, dangerous.
“Oh, little light. You’re trembling.”
“Let me help you.”
“Never.”
A cold hush fell over the trees.
“Then he will.”
Rowan’s breath stilled.
Elias?
She strained down the bond—
A flicker.
A pulse.
A flash of pain.
Elias fighting—
Fighting HARD—
his shadows raging, his fear cracking through the connection—
Then—
“ROWAN! WHERE ARE YOU?”
Rowan sobbed in relief.
“I’m here! I’m here—down the cliff—Elias, I’m—”
The bond sputtered violently.
Kael slammed into it with a surge of dark energy.
Rowan cried out, falling to her knees as her chest burned.
“STOP—”
Kael whispered:
“He can’t hear you now.”
“No!”
Rowan pushed inward, searching for Elias, clawing through the static—
Another dark-born burst from the shadows.
Rowan spun, light flaring on reflex—
It hit the creature, but too weak, too unfocused.
The monster staggered, then lunged again.
Rowan stumbled backward, tripping over roots—
Fell.
Her light flickered out completely.
The creature loomed above her, claws reaching—
Rowan threw up her arms—
But nothing happened.
Her light was empty.
“No—please—please—”
The dark-born screamed and dove for her—
And a shadow ripped it apart midair.
Rowan froze.
Not Kael’s shadow.
Not a seeker’s shadow.
Elias’s.
Elias burst through the trees like a storm breaking, his entire body glowing with rage and fear, shadows swirling violently around him.
“ROWAN!”
Her breath hitched.
Elias fell to his knees beside her, grabbing her face with shaking hands, pulling her against his chest like he was terrified she would vanish.
“Gods—Rowan—Rowan—are you hurt—did he touch you—did you—”
His voice broke entirely.
Rowan clung to him, sobbing into his shoulder.
“I—I couldn’t find you—my power—I couldn’t—Elias—”
“I know,” he whispered, clutching her tighter.
“I know. I felt you fall—I tried to reach you—I’m so sorry—”
His shadows wrapped around her protectively, trembling with relief.
Rowan pulled back enough to see his face.
He looked wrecked.
Terrified.
Breathless.
Like he’d aged a century in the minutes she’d been out of reach.
“Elias...” Rowan whispered, touching his cheek gently.
He closed his eyes at the touch, leaning into her hand like he needed it to breathe.
“I thought I lost you,” he said, voice raw.
“If Kael had gotten to you—if anything had touched you—Rowan, I—”
He couldn’t say the rest.
Rowan swallowed, tears burning.
“You didn’t lose me.”
A beat passed—
warm, fragile, breaking and healing all at once.
But then—
Elias stiffened.
Rowan felt it too.
A presence behind them.
Cold.
Quiet.
Patient.
Kael stepped out of the shadows, alone.
His legion hung back.
He smiled.
“Found her, did you?”
Elias stood slowly, shadows rising like a storm behind him.
Rowan rose too, light trembling beneath her skin.
Kael tilted his head, eyes gleaming.
“Good,” he murmured.
“Now we can begin.”
Rowan felt Elias’s fingers brush hers—barely—searching.
She intertwined her hand with his.
The bond flared warm again.
Kael’s smile sharpened.
“Choose, little light.”
“Him... or power.”
Elias inhaled sharply.
And Rowan knew—
This time, running wasn’t an option.
This time, she had to stand.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The forest held its breath—
as if even the shadows didn’t dare interrupt what came next.
Rowan’s fingers tightened around Elias’s.
Kael smiled, amused at the gesture.
“A choice,” Kael murmured, spreading his hands.
“Love... or power.”
Elias’s shadow recoiled, tense and trembling.
“Rowan, don’t listen to him.”
Kael ignored him completely.
“You could shine brighter than any flare in generations,” he told Rowan softly.
“Unbound. Untamed. Unclaimed.”
Elias flinched at the word.
Rowan felt it through the bond like a bruise pressed too hard.
Kael continued, circling slowly.
“Or you can stay tethered to him,” he added with a tilt of his head, “and burn yourself out wasting your strength to protect someone who—”
Elias’s shadows lashed outward.
“Kael, I swear—”
“—isn’t even your equal,” Kael finished, amused.
Rowan stepped forward before she even realized she was doing it.
“Stop talking like I’m not standing right here.”
Kael’s smile widened.
“Ah. There she is.”
Elias reached for her wrist.
“Rowan—”
“I can speak for myself,” she whispered.
It wasn’t anger.
It was exhaustion.
And something sharper—clarity.
Kael’s head tilted slightly.
“Then speak.”
Rowan swallowed.
Her voice shook—but it didn’t break.
“I don’t want power for the sake of power,” she said.
“I don’t want to be a weapon. I don’t want to burn the world just because I can.”
Kael’s amusement dimmed.
Elias’s grip tightened gently.
Rowan looked up at Kael, chest rising and falling in trembling breaths.
“And I don’t want to be manipulated or used. Not by you. And not by him.”
Elias froze.
Kael’s brows lifted.
“You think he hasn’t used you?” Kael murmured.
“You awakened because his shadow summoned you.”
Rowan’s jaw clenched.
“And you’re trying to use me right now.”
Kael’s eyes glinted with cold approval.
“Good girl.”
Elias snarled.
“Kael—”
“BUT,” Rowan snapped.
Kael’s smile faded.
Rowan inhaled deeply.
“I—am not choosing either of you right now.”
Elias’s breath hitched.
“Rowan—”
Kael blinked, actually taken aback.
Rowan shook her head, stepping back from both men.
“You both keep acting like I’m something to claim or steal or awaken. But I’m the one living inside this power. I’m the one who can’t breathe half the time because I don’t know what I am.”
Her voice cracked.
“And none of you have told me the truth.”
Kael’s gaze sharpened.
“About what?”
Rowan met his eyes.
“I want to know what I am. All of it. Not your twisted version. Not Elias’s terrified half-truth. The real thing.”
Kael regarded her in silence, expression unreadable.
Elias stepped closer, voice barely air.
“Rowan, you’re a flare. A powerful one, yes, but—”
“No.”
Her heart hammered.
“I’m something different.”
Elias went still.
Kael’s smile returned, slow and delighted.
“She feels it,” Kael murmured. “Good.”
Rowan swallowed hard.
“Tell me.”
Kael stepped toward her.
Elias’s shadows bristled.
“Stay back,” Elias hissed.
Kael ignored him.
“You didn’t wonder,” Kael asked softly, “why your light didn’t behave like other flares? Why it doesn’t just illuminate or defend... but unravels?”
Rowan’s pulse shook.
“I thought that was—rare.”
“Oh, it is,” Kael said.
“For flares.”
He leaned in just slightly.
Rowan forced herself not to flinch.
“But you, little light...”
His voice softened.
“You’re not just a flare.”
Elias’s voice shook.
“Kael. STOP.”
Kael kept speaking.
“You’re a fissure-born.”
Rowan’s breath stumbled.
“A what?”
Elias closed his eyes like he’d been stabbed.
Kael smiled.
“Light that was forged in the crack between realms. Light that isn’t meant to balance shadow... but to break it.”
Rowan took a step back.
“That’s not possible.”
“It is,” Kael murmured.
“And it explains everything.”
Her early awakening.
Her uncontrolled bursts.
Her unraveling ability.
The sanctuary’s reaction to her.
Elias’s shadow clinging to her like salvation and danger intertwined.
Rowan’s heart pounded in her ribs.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she whispered—
but she wasn’t looking at Kael.
She was looking at Elias.
Elias swallowed hard, eyes full of torment.
“Rowan,” he whispered, “I didn’t know for certain—”
“But you suspected,” Rowan breathed.
His silence was answer enough.
Kael stepped closer.
Rowan stepped away.
“You belong with me,” Kael said softly.
“You were born of the fissure. You can unmake darkness—and light. You can rule both.”
Elias’s shadows tore through the ground.
“RUN,” he snapped, grabbing Rowan’s hand.
“Rowan, NOW—”
Kael lifted his fingers.
A wave of dark energy slammed outward—
knocking Elias and Rowan apart like two magnets forced to separate.
The bond snapped tight—
then went agonizingly silent.
Rowan hit the ground hard.
Elias shouted her name, shadows surging desperately—
Kael grabbed Rowan’s wrist, holding her in place with effortless strength.
She gasped, light flickering in panic.
Kael leaned down, voice soft and terrifying.
“You were never meant to be a flare,” he whispered.
“You were meant to be mine.”
Rowan’s heart seized.
Her light sparked.
And Elias’s scream tore through the night.
“ROWAN!”
His voice shattered.
“DON’T LET HIM TAKE YOU!”
Rowan felt the bond throttle awake—
wild, frantic, filled with Elias’s terror—
And in that instant she made her choice.
Not of love.
Not of allegiance.
But of herself.
Rowan’s light detonated.
Kael staggered back, blindsided.
Shadows shrieked away from her skin.
Rowan rose—shaking, furious, terrified—and whispered:
“I belong to myself.”
The bond with Elias roared alive again.
Bright.
Burning.
Choosing her.
Kael’s expression darkened.
“This,” he hissed, “is only the beginning.”
Wind whipped the leaves.
Tree limbs bent under the pressure.
Kael’s legion screeched and surged.
Elias reached her, shadows coiling around her protectively.
And Rowan realized—
Her identity wasn’t a curse.
It was a weapon.
And the war had finally begun.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
