Page 31 of Shadowkissed

“It came from you.”

My spine straightens.

“That’s impossible,” I say, careful, measured. “I’ve been laying low.”

“Not low enough,” Thorne murmurs, stepping forward now, cloak brushing the floor like a shadow.

I glare at him. “If this is about last night, I?—”

“It is,” he says sharply. “Whatever you did... wherever youwere... it’s tipping things.”

My mouth goes dry.

Because I know what he’s referring to. The moment my hand brushed Dante’s, and something ancient in both of uswoke up. And when we kissed last night… well, I’m sure that didn’t help.

“You told me to control it,” I bite back. “I’m trying.”

“Trying,” he repeats like it’s an insult. “Trying is what gets worlds undone.”

“You think I don’tknowthat?”

The shadows behind me stretch out, defensive. My magic rises with my temper, and I force it down. Barely.

Thorne’s gaze softens, just a little. “I know what you are. I trained you to hold the line. But this—this thing you’re forging with that…shifter—it’s not a line anymore. It’s a path.”

“To what?”

He looks at me. Doesn’t answer.

Because we both already know.

To ruin. Or salvation. No in-between.

Leira’s voice cuts in, cold and clipped. “Seraphiel’s been seen in the rift between the fourth and fifth wards.”

My stomach drops. That close?

Thorne sighs. “He’s closing in, Liora. His enforcers are pulling from the bone legions. There are whispers he’s preparing a ritual.”

“What kind of ritual?”

“The claiming kind.”

I swallow hard. No.

No, he wouldn’t. Not yet. I’ve been careful.

Mostly.

“I didn’t call him,” I say. “I didn’t reach for him. I haven’t?—”

“You kissed someone with guardian blood,” Thorne interrupts.

My eyes snap to his. “You were watching?”

“I felt it.”

Shame prickles hot under my skin. My voice goes quiet. “It wasn’t supposed to mean anything.”

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