Page 80 of Kael

“Is Aelith still… feeding him?” I ask, trying to keep my voice level.

“Not while sedated or it’s still in his system,” she says. “But when he’s fully comprehensive and the drugs have worn off, I doubt I can stop him.”

Kael places a hand on Aelith’s shoulder. Something wordless passes between them, and though the prince doesn’t lift his gaze, his hand reaches up to cover Kael’s.

I look away. It’s not jealousy. Not exactly. But it’s something.

“I have to stay,” Kael says to me, voice low.

I nod. I knew it was coming.

He steps back towards me, pausing close enough that I can feel the heat of him. His hand finds mine briefly. Discreetly. “Tonight?”

“Tonight,” I promise.

He doesn’t kiss me. Not here. But the look he gives me before he turns back to Aelith is enough to keep me going.

Just.

I let myself linger at Dawson’s bedside for a moment, watching the slow rise and fall of his chest. His hands look too small against the sterile white sheet. He looks young. Too young to be dying.

I glance at Iris. She’s already back at her post, monitoring something on the screen. “Tell me the moment anything changes,” I say.

She nods without looking up, and I leave quietly. The door clicks shut behind me, and the ache in my chest doesn’t ease. It only grows.

As I step back into the hall, I don’t leave immediately. I linger, leaning against the wall just outside the door, waiting for the tightness in my lungs to relax. It doesn’t.

Has Kael even told Aelith about me?

I’m not sure why the question hits so hard, but it does. The way the prince didn’t even glance at me—like I was just another Riftborn come to hover. Like I wasn’t… bonded. Not to him, obviously. But to Kael.

His personal guard.

Would Kael risk telling him?

The logical part of my brain says no. Of course not. Not yet. Not when the prince is teetering on the edge of burning himself out. Why give him something else to carry?

But the irrational part? The piece of me that’s already cracking from the weight of not being enough for my mother, for myself, for Kael during the early days… that part whispers that maybe I’m still something to hide.

The door creaks open behind me. I jolt upright, turning just as Iris slips out, gently pulling the door shut behind her.

She raises an eyebrow. “You didn’t leave.”

“I was about to,” I lie.

She doesn’t call me on it. Instead, she rubs at the back of her neck. “He’s holding on. Dawson, I mean. But… whatever’s happening in there, it’s pulling on all of us. Aelith’s getting reckless.”

“I know,” I say. “Kael told me.”

We fall into silence. Her gaze flicks back towards the door.

I shift, uncomfortable. “Your mate… he’s here?”

A smile twitches at the corner of her mouth, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “He never really left.”

That doesn’t help my creeping unease. “I can’t see him.”

“No one does unless he wants it.” Her tone is casual, but I don’t miss the way her fingers twitch slightly, like she’s reminding herself to stay relaxed. “He’s always watching. Protective as hell. He was hovering while you were out, y’know. Not in a creepy way. Well… okay, maybe a little creepy.”

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