Page 64 of The Book of Legends
Not after him.
Not after the way Kainen said my name like a vow wrapped in fire and steel.
I drift toward the window, moonlight and ash-laced smoke bleeding into the sky beyond. Somewhere out there, past the charred trees and ruined borders, something ancient stirs. Something monstrous. Something broken.
But it’s not that storm that claws at me.
It’s the one he left inside me.
His touch still lingers at my waist, burned into my skin. The heat of his breath still ghosts my neck. The weight of his hands—rough, possessive, reverent—held me like I was more than just a girl torn from one world and dropped into another. Not a prisoner. Not even a curse.
I should hate him for it.
For the way he watches me like I’m the next war he’ll conquer.
For the way he kissed me like it meant something.
LikeImeant something.
But I don’t hate him.
And that terrifies me more than anything else.
Because when he said he’d find me if I ran… part of me didn’t want to run. A broken part of mewantedto be found. Wanted to behis. Not because I’m weak. Not because I’m his to claim.
But because the darkness in him sees something in me. And maybe—maybe—I see it too.
I sit at the edge of the bed, my hands trembling in my lap. I could pretend it was adrenaline. Battle haze. The aftermath of survival.
But it wasn’t.
It was real.
And worse—it’s dangerous.
Because Kainen doesn't seem the kind of man who gives without reason. He doesn’t offer pieces of himself lightly. Not without a cost. Not without consequence.
And if I fall into this...
If I let myself want him...
He’ll burn the world to keep me.
And he’ll burnmetoo.
Once again,the dream returns.
Flame. Wings. A city built from wealth and ruin.
I stand in the center of it all, barefoot on scorched marble, the scent of burning flowers tangling in my hair. Ash drifts down like snow. Behind me, something roars—not with anger, but with grief. I start to turn toward it, heart pounding?—
And I wake, gasping.
My skin is slick with sweat. My breath fogs in the cold night air as I stumble from bed and find no guard at my door and head to the courtyard. The sky above is a blanket of stars… but I still see it. Thatothersky. The fire. The phases of the room.
“What do you remember?” a voice asks behind me.
I flinch—but it’s just Malachi. He emerges from the shadows like he was born from them.
