Page 76 of Shadowkissed

The celestial has risen.

The energy in the room shifts when she enters.

Not fear.

Awe.

She’s trying to hide it. I can see her armor snapping back into place—shoulders squared, chin high, mouth sharpened.

But I know better.

I see the fracture underneath.

Later, when it’s just us, I sit next to her on the roof, the night air thick with distant storms and possibility.

“You don’t have to prove anything to them,” I say.

“I do,” she replies. “Because they think I’m some chosen flame. But I’m not. I’m the kind of fire that burns too hot and eats everything it touches. I want to show them I can save the world from what they think is an unstoppable demise. I want to be the savior, not the downfall.”

I tilt my head toward her. “Then let’s teach you to wield it.”

She swallows hard.

“What if loving you is what makes it worse?” she whispers.

I reach over, thread my fingers through hers.

“How can it be when it’s the first time you’ve ever wanted to claim it? To wield it?”

She exhales like she’s been holding that fear in her lungs for years. And when she looks at me, it’s like she finally believes we have a chance.

37

LIORA

Ihaven’t seen Thorne in weeks.

Not since the council turned their backs on us. Not since he let me walk away with fire burning under my skin and a war knocking at my bones.

But tonight, I need answers.

I needhim—whether I like it or not.

His sanctuary is exactly where I remember it: carved into the base of the old hollow tree just beyond the Veil's weakest point, deep in the Wychwood. Hidden. Timeless.

Fitting for a man who’s always been more myth than mentor.

The magic guarding the perimeter lets me through without resistance. That’s the first sign something’s off—Thorne never lowers his wards. Not unless he’s expecting you. Or he wants to test how far you’ve come.

I step inside the chamber hollowed from roots and earth, where glowing stones pulse like slow heartbeats along the ceiling.

He’s there. Sitting cross-legged by the fire. Cloaked in shadow and silence.

“Liora,” he says, without looking up. “I was wondering when you’d come.”

“YouknewI would.”

“Of course.”

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