Aria's POV
"Absolutely not." Kael's father's voice booms through the throne room, and I shrink behind Kael despite trying to appear brave. "You will surrender that creature to the council immediately."
King Mordecai Nightshade sits on a throne made of shadow and bone, looking exactly like the terrifying ruler from nightmare stories. His violet eyes—the same shade as Kael's—blaze with fury as he stares at his son.
"She's under my protection," Kael says calmly, but through our Soul Bond, I feel his heart racing. "By ancient law—"
"Ancient law was written before Pentaelementals nearly destroyed our world!" Mordecai slams his fist on the throne's armrest. "That thing killed your mother!"
The words hit like a physical blow. I feel Kael's shock ripple through our connection, followed by confusion.
"Mother died from a plague," Kael says slowly.
"A plague caused by unstable elemental magic. By someone attempting to awaken as a Pentaelemental and failing." Mordecai stands, and shadows writhe around him like living serpents. "The magical backlash infected half our kingdom. Your mother spent three months dying slowly while I watched, helpless. And you want to protect another monster that could do the same?"
I can't breathe. The weight of his hatred presses down on me like a mountain.
"She's not a monster," Kael argues, but his voice wavers. Through our bond, I feel doubt creeping in. What if his father is right? What if I'm dangerous just by existing?
"Look at her!" Mordecai gestures at me. "Trembling, weak, barely able to control her own power. How long before she loses control and kills everyone around her? How long before she takes you from me the way that last Pentaelemental took your mother?"
"I didn't kill anyone!" The words burst out before I can stop them. "I didn't ask for this power! I didn't ask to be born this way!"
Mordecai's cold gaze shifts to me. "They never do. But you'll destroy everything regardless. It's in your nature."
"Then execute me," I say, and Kael's shock floods through our bond. "If I'm such a threat, kill me right now. Get it over with."
For a long moment, the king just stares at me. Then he laughs—a cruel, brittle sound.
"Oh, I plan to. But first, my son needs to learn a lesson about duty versus sentiment." He waves his hand, and guards appear from the shadows. "Take her to the Obsidian Tower. Lock her in the isolation chamber. Let's see how long Kael's protective instincts last when he realizes what he's actually defending."
"Father, don't—" Kael starts.
"You have a choice, Kael." Mordecai's voice turns ice-cold. "Kill the Pentaelemental yourself and prove your loyalty to your kingdom. Or I'll do it for you, and you'll watch knowing you chose a stranger over everything I taught you."
The guards grab my arms. I try to pull away, but they're wearing anti-magic gloves that make my power fizzle uselessly.
"Kael!" I reach for him through our bond, desperate.
He takes a step toward me, then stops. Through our connection, I feel him being torn apart—duty to his father, fear of his mother's fate, and something else. Something that feels like he's trying to protect me even now.
"Three days," Mordecai announces. "I'll give you three days to make your decision. After that, the girl dies whether you help or not."
The guards drag me away. I look back at Kael, silently begging him to do something, say something, but he just stands there frozen as I disappear into the shadows.
I wake up alone in the biggest bedroom I've ever seen.
For a moment, I think I dreamed everything—the amphitheater, the powers, Kael, all of it. But then I see my hands, and small flames dance across my fingertips without me even trying. The elements are still there, buried under my skin, waiting.
The room is made entirely of black volcanic glass that seems to absorb light. One massive window overlooks a city I don't recognize. A bed large enough for five people sits in the center. Bookshelves line one wall. Everything is beautiful and expensive and completely wrong.
Because this isn't a bedroom. It's a very pretty cage.
"You're awake."
I spin around. Kael stands by the window, so still I didn't notice him. He's not looking at me—just staring out at whatever's beyond the glass.
"What am I?" I ask, hating how small my voice sounds.
"A Pentaelemental." His tone is flat, emotionless. "Someone who can wield all five elements. The last one killed fifty thousand people in a single day. The Cataclysm, they call it. Entire cities turned to ash. Rivers boiled dry. Mountains crumbled to dust."
Each word is a knife to my chest. "And you think I'll do the same."
"I don't know what you'll do." Finally, he turns to face me, and his violet eyes are hard as stone. "That's the problem. You're the most dangerous creature alive, and you don't even know how to control yourself."
"Then teach me."
"Or I could just kill you now and prevent another catastrophe."
The words should terrify me, but I'm too tired for fear. "So do it. Everyone wants me dead anyway. Might as well get it over with."
Something flickers across Kael's face—surprise, maybe, or respect. "You're under protective custody here."
"I'm a prisoner." I walk to the door and try to open it. Magical barriers block my way, shocking my hand. "You can call it whatever you want, but I know a cage when I see one."
"Would you prefer the alternative?" Kael's voice rises. "The council wanted to execute you immediately. My father wants your head on a spike. Half the academy is probably celebrating your supposed death right now. This cage is the only thing keeping you alive!"
"Why?" I turn to face him. "Why do you even care? Just do what everyone expects—kill the monster and be the hero."
"Because—" He cuts himself off, running a hand through his hair in frustration. Through our Soul Bond, I feel chaos—anger, fear, confusion, and underneath it all, something that feels almost like longing.
"Because what?" I push.
"Because I've been dreaming about you!" The admission explodes out of him. "For two years! A girl with mismatched eyes, standing in fire and water and earth and air and spirit all at once. Sometimes you're saving the world. Sometimes you're destroying it. And I can never tell which version is real!"
I stare at him, speechless.
"So yes," Kael continues, his voice rough, "you're my prisoner. You stay here until I figure out what to do with you. Until I understand what you are and whether you're going to become the nightmare everyone fears."
He's trying to sound cold and controlled, but I notice his hands are shaking.
"How long?" I ask quietly.
"As long as it takes."
"And if you decide I'm too dangerous?"
His jaw clenches. "Then I'll do what has to be done."
The words hang between us like a death sentence.
I walk back to the bed and sit down, suddenly exhausted. "For what it's worth, I don't want to destroy the world. I just want to understand why I'm like this."
Kael doesn't respond. He turns back to the window, and I feel walls slamming down between us through our bond—like he's trying to block me out emotionally even though our magic keeps us connected.
I lie back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Everything hurts—my body from using too much power, my heart from too many betrayals, my soul from carrying magic I never asked for.
Sleep starts pulling me under. My last coherent thought is wondering if I'll wake up at all, or if Kael will decide killing me in my sleep is easier.
I wake to screaming.
Not mine—Kael's.
Through our Soul Bond, I feel his terror like it's my own. Nightmares, vivid and horrible, flooding through our connection. I see flashes of what he's seeing: a woman with kind eyes dying slowly, her skin turning black with plague. A younger Kael begging someone to save her. Flames consuming everything.
And me. In every nightmare, I'm there. Sometimes I'm the plague. Sometimes I'm the fire. Sometimes I'm just standing over his mother's body, glowing with five-colored light.
His father was right. Kael does blame Pentaelementals for his mother's death.
And now he's magically bonded to one.
The screaming stops. Through our connection, I feel Kael wake up gasping, drenched in sweat and fear.
For a moment, I think about reaching out through our bond. Comforting him somehow.
But then I remember—I'm the monster in his nightmares.
I roll over and pretend to sleep, even as tears slide silently down my face.
In his room somewhere in this tower, I feel Kael doing the same thing. Pretending he's fine. Pretending he doesn't feel my sadness through our bond.
We're connected but completely alone.
And I have three days before his father forces him to choose between duty and whatever strange thing is growing between us.
I don't know which scares me more—the thought of Kael killing me, or the thought of him choosing to save me and hating himself for it forever.