Page 110 of Aïdes the Unseen
He had been alone.
For so long.
Waiting. Watching. Building entire networks around a memory that refused to come home.
I reached for his hand once again. He didn’t flinch. Just curled his fingers through mine like it was the most natural thing in the world.
For the first time since this started, I didn’t feel lost.
Not entirely.
I didn’t let go of his hand.
I didn’t want to.
Not after everything—every myth and memory, every twisted hallway of stone and echo—I needed somethingreal. He was real. Not just because he was here, but because he always had been.
I studied him, the way his eyes searched mine—not with hunger or claim, but with quiet awe. Like he couldn’t quite believe I was here. That I’d stayed.
“I know why,” I said softly.
Graven tilted his head.
The dog, gangly, curious, still somehow noble despite his oversized paws and earnest gaze, tilted his head too.
It undid me a little. The smallness of the gesture. The kindness in it.
“I know why I chose you,” I said again. “Or whyshechose you. I don’t know how this works, not really. If I’m just another sliver of her or a copy with my own shape or...”
I stopped. Breathed in. Let the words find their own rhythm.
“But I know why she chose youthen. I know why I’m choosing younow.”
Graven’s brow furrowed, the faintest breath of emotion brushing his expression.
I stepped closer. Pressed a hand to his chest.
It was warm beneath my palm. Steady. Living.
“It’s simple,” I whispered. “Because you chose me. You haven’t demanded. You haven’t taken. You just…keep giving. Even when I wasn’t here to accept it. Even when I didn’t remember. You’ve been giving this whole time.”
His breath caught. One of his hands lifted, covered mine against his chest. His voice, when it came, was low and sure, like a vow carved into stone.
“I willalwayschoose you.”
The words struck me like a tuning fork. A deep, resonant chord that rang straight through my bones.
Something in the air shifted.
A softchime—clear and crystalline—echoed through the corridor like a bell heard underwater.
I turned, heart stuttering.
There, where a solid wall of shadow had stood moments ago, now stood adoor.
Wood, dark as midnight. Smooth as glass. A brass handle that shimmered faintly with some old light.
The dog padded forward, tail wagging once, just enough to acknowledge what we both knew.
