> đ” Recommended Listening:
"The Night We Met" (instrumental cover) â Lord Huron
(for longing, regret, and the ache of choices not yet made)
---
The wind had changed.
Kyrell felt it first in his dreamsâcold fingers brushing the inside of his ribs, turning the warmth Lucian gave him into fog. He awoke just before dawn, breathless, the space beside him empty once more.
Lucian was avoiding him again.
Or protecting him.
But from what?
---
In the Council chamber below, Renak stood at the edge of the obsidian table. The elder seat remained empty. Silas was goneâon purpose, or something worse.
"He's compromised," Mara said without preamble, red lips drawn tight with restrained fury. "I told you. That boy⊠he's weakening Lucian. I've seen it."
Renak's hands curled into fists. "No. It's more than that. He's not just weakenedâhe's unraveling. And I think it's because the boy knows something."
Mara tilted her head. "Knows?"
"He's not just a stray." Renak's voice lowered. "He remembers something Lucian wants buried."
Her eyes sharpened. "Then we make him remember faster."
---
Lucian stood on the balcony of the east tower, bare-chested, the wind catching his long hair. He hadn't fed in three nights. Not since that moment in the chamber, when Kyrell had whispered, "Then stop fighting it."
And he almost had.
Lucian closed his eyes.
He could still smell him. That scentâwild, alive, intimate. It pressed into his senses like a bruise that never healed. And Kyrell⊠he was no longer as fragile as he seemed.
He was starting to change.
Lucian had seen it in the boy's eyes.
Not fear. Not confusion.
Resolve.
---
Kyrell wandered the corridor outside Lucian's wing. The guards no longer watched him. Whether out of trust or manipulation, he wasn't sure.
But he needed answers. And the only one who gave them in riddles was now the only one he trusted to tell the truth.
He descended the stairs quietly.
Toward the library.
The moment his fingers touched the handle, a voice rang behind him.
"I wouldn't go in there, if I were you."
He turned.
A man leaned against the archway. Tall. Lithe. Skin like steel and eyes that flickered gold in the torchlight.
Damien.
"You're the one they're all so excited about," Damien said, stepping forward. "I thought you'd be⊠taller."
Kyrell's jaw tightened. "And you're the one who watches from shadows."
Damien's grin widened. "You saw that?"
Kyrell didn't answer.
"I was hoping we'd meet properly," Damien said. "But now that I see you up close⊠I wonder if you even know what you are."
"I'm no threat to him," Kyrell said.
Damien raised a brow. "Oh, but you are. Not because of power. Because of pull."
Kyrell stayed still. "What do you want?"
"To understand," Damien said. "Why he'd throw centuries of command into the fireâfor someone who doesn't even bleed properly anymore."
Silence.
Kyrell's breath caught.
He turned fully to face Damien. "What did you say?"
Damien's eyes glinted. "You're changing, aren't you? You feel it. Hunger. Heat. The quietâŠ"
Kyrell swallowed hard.
"Don't worry," Damien said softly. "He won't tell you what's happening. But I might."
---
Back in his chamber, Lucian froze mid-step.
He felt it.
Someone had touched Kyrell's mind.
Not him.
Someone else.
And they were unlocking something buriedâsomething Lucian had hidden even from himself.
His eyes bled red.
He was no longer safe.
Not from the council. Not from the past.
And least of allâfrom himself.