Page 49 of Shadows Rising

I don't mean to open myself to it. Don't mean to let him deeper. But Finn is already there, waiting, and somehow it doesn't feel so terrifying anymore.

The rush is indescribable. Like diving into a sea of starlight, every cell in my body singing with joy and connection that feels earned rather than stolen. I can feel Finn's wonder echoing my own, our emotions amplifying and reflecting until I'm not sure where I end and he begins—but for the first time, that doesn't terrify me.

I'm trembling in his arms, steady and strong, and I can feel his heart racing in perfect sync with mine.

"Holy shit," he breathes against my hair, voice shaky with awe. "That was..."

"Different," I finish, understanding flooding through both of us simultaneously. "The bond—it feels different now."

"Because we chose it," Finn says, pulling back to meet my eyes. "In that moment, we chose each other. Not because of the bond. In spite of it."

My shadows dance around us, lighter somehow, more playful than they've been since we arrived. Even Mouse seems less tense, his violet eyes warm with approval.

"I think," Finn continues, that familiar mischievous grin finally returning, "we might just be unstoppable when we stop fighting what we actually want."

I laugh, actually laugh, for the first time since stepping foot in this realm. "Is that your solution to everything? Stop fighting and start kissing?"

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" He waggles his eyebrows, but there's real tenderness underneath the humor. "Besides, I've got about four more people to convince, so I better perfect my technique."

The thought of Finn trying to kiss his way through everyone's anger makes me snort with laughter. "I'd pay to see you try that approach with Torric."

"Please. The man's basically a walking furnace. One good kiss and he'd melt like butter."

"You're ridiculous."

"You love it." He says it lightly, but there's a question underneath. A hope.

I meet his gaze, feeling the bond hum between us. Not forced now, but freely given. "Yeah," I say softly. "I do."

The ache in my chest doesn't disappear, but it shifts into something warmer. Something that feels less like a wound and more like possibility.

Chapter 25

Kieran

I shouldn't be here.

The thought loops through my mind, but the bond doesn't care. It pulls with relentless insistence, dragging me toward her like a tide I can't escape. Every instinct screams at me to give her space, to let her process what I've done without my presence poisoning the air further.

But I can't stay away.

I keep to the shadows beyond the garden, hidden among the twisted trees that somehow still grow in this corrupted place. The sanctuary's dim torches flicker over the impossible oasis where Kaia sits with Finn, golden light catching in her hair, dancing across the restless movement of her shadows.

She doesn't push him away when he settles beside her.

Doesn't tense or retreat.

She leans into him.

Something sharp twists in my chest—not jealousy, exactly, but something rawer. More complicated.

At first, it's subtle. A whisper of warmth creeping through the bond, easing the rigid tension that's held my shoulders locked since the Hall. The relief isn't mine—it's hers. Kaia's emotions trickle through our connection like water through cracked stone, and despite everything, despite the fury I can still taste at the edges of her consciousness, there's something else.

Contentment.

The warmth spreads through me, settling in places I didn't realize were cold. For a moment, I almost forget why I'm lurking in the shadows like some lovesick fool, because feeling her at peace, even if it's not because of me, is worth the ache in my chest.

But then the bond shifts.

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