Page 26 of Bound In Stone, Claimed In Fire

He finishes tying off the bandage, his arms momentarily circling me. I exhale a shaky breath. My face burns with tears and confusion.Why does this closeness feel so… comforting?I have the impulse to jerk away, to bury my face in my arm and scream at my foolishness. But I remain still, too exhausted and wounded to fight the wave of conflicting emotion.

“You’re all right,” he murmurs, half to me, half to himself. His voice holds a note of relief. “The bleeding’s slowed.”

I twist slightly, looking at him over my shoulder. His eyes flick to my tear-streaked cheeks. Something in his expression softens further. The hush wraps around us, broken by the distant rustle of branches. My brand’s throb eases, replaced by a different pounding—my pulse in my ears, spurred by the realization that we’re sitting so close. My injuries, my guilt, the fear of Drayveth… all coalesce into a raw vulnerability.

“Kaelith,” I whisper, voice catching. “Thank you.”

His molten gaze flicks to my lips, then to my eyes. “You don’t need to thank me,” he says gruffly. “We’re… in this together.” A quiet quake of tension sparks between us, charging the air like a static field. I feel it in the tether, an upsurge of heat that brings my senses into sharp focus.

Before I can overthink it, I reach up with my good arm, brushing my fingers over the injury on his temple. He flinches slightly, but doesn’t pull away. Blood mats his hair, and I gently wipe it aside. Our breath mingles in the cold. My heart pounds so loudly I swear he can hear it.

The silence stretches, each second weighted with the swirling of unspoken feelings—relief, gratitude, lingering terror, and an undeniable draw. My pulse throbs. With a trembling inhale, I lean in, letting my forehead rest against his, careful not to aggravate his wound. It’s such a small gesture, yet intensely intimate.

A low rumble vibrates in his chest, maybe uncertainty or acceptance. My lashes lower, tears slipping free again, but for a different reason. We’re alive. We’re surviving.Maybe that’s enough.Kaelith’s breath hitches. One of his hands lifts, gently cupping the side of my face. My skin tingles under his touch, the heat from his palm a stark contrast to the chill that’s seeped into my bones.

We stay like that, suspended. The wind whips through the trees above us, scattering brittle leaves. My lip quivers, a swirl of yearning gnawing at me. I recall how easily he fended off Drayveth’s attacks, how fiercely he roared when they threatened me. That protective edge tugs at something deep inside me.I didn’t think I could ever trust like this again, not after the coven’s betrayal.

The tension cracks. Suddenly, his mouth is on mine—urgent, heated. I gasp, every nerve firing. My heart lurches at the shock of contact, a delirious wave of warmth flooding my senses. There’s desperation behind the kiss, but also gentleness. He’s careful not to press too hard against my injured shoulder, his hand sliding around my waist, anchoring me.

Time blurs. I surrender to the surge of feeling that roars through me, tangling my fingers in his hair. The tether pulses wildly, magical energy dancing under my skin, intensifying the taste of him on my lips. For a breathless moment, the world melts away—no Drayveth, no curses, no monstrous ex-lovers from centuries past. Just Kaelith and me, breathing in unison.

Then logic slams back into me like a wall of cold water.What am I doing?Fear and confusion churn in my gut. I break the kiss, pulling back with a stifled gasp. My breath fogs in the air as I stare at him. His eyes mirror the shock and lingering hunger I feel. My heart hammers, a swirl of emotions tangling my thoughts.

“I—I’m sorry,” I stammer, voice trembling. “That was… I mean, we’re—this is?—”

He looks torn, an echo of longing shadowed by guilt. “Don’t apologize,” he manages hoarsely, though he’s already shifting away, wings tensing as if he’s ready to bolt. “I—Sariah, I…” Words fail him, and he exhales, pressing a palm over the runes on his chest.Nerezza,the memory flickers in his gaze, a haunting sorrow.

I rub my hands to my heated cheek, panic creeping in. “Kaelith, I’m—are you?—”

He exhales raggedly, then lifts his eyes to meet mine. “We… can’t do this,” he says, voice laced with conflict. “Not now. Not while Drayveth is still after us and Nerezza’s shadow looms. We can’t risk repeating old tragedies.” Regret thrums beneath each word.

Tears sting my eyes anew. I want to argue, to say that we need each other, that I’m not Nerezza, that we can forge a different path. But he’s right, at least about the danger swirling around us. My mind reels. I’m torn between the heady rush of that kiss and the sobering truth that we’re literally on borrowed time.Am I truly heading down the same route as the monstrous Nyxari?

I force a shuddering breath, nodding. “I know.”

He lowers his gaze, fists clenching. “We’ll talk about it. Later. Right now… we should keep moving. Drayveth might rally again.”

I bite my lip, hating how my body still throbs with the imprint of his lips, even as fear knots in my stomach. “Okay,” I whisper, voice raw. We help each other stand, ignoring the pangs in our battered bodies. My shoulder screams in protest, and Kaelith hisses at the cut on his temple. But we manage to gather ourselves enough to limp deeper into the forest, leaving behind the site of our near-death skirmish.

As we trudge onward, the hush of snowfall accompanies us. My mind reels from the collision of violence and that dizzying kiss. My heart feels torn wide open, guilt creeping in at the edges.Have I doomed him to heartbreak?Or maybe we’ve both clung to each other in desperation.Either way, we can’t simply ignore what just happened.

The mark on my wrist still smolders with residual magic, a reminder of how close I came to unleashing something unstoppable. My lips tingle where his mouth crushed mine. Contradictions swirl in my head, mirrored by the bond’s flickering pulses.

We don’t speak much as we seek cover in a new hiding spot—a hollow at the foot of a massive pine. The thick canopy overhead shelters us from the falling snow. By the time we settle, night is creeping in, the sky turning a leaden gray. Kaelith busies himself setting wards around the perimeter, using a combination of gargoyle glyphs and bits of leftover purna wards we scavenged. I rummage for anything to start a fire. My shoulder throbs every time I move.

Eventually, we collapse into a tense, breathless quiet. I concentrate on igniting a small flame with trembling fingers, ignoring the swirl of longing and guilt that roils in my chest. He observes me from the corner of his eye, runes faintly glowing in the gloom. The wariness in his posture is tangible, layered with a flicker of regret.We’re both reeling.We’re both uncertain how to proceed after that moment we shared.

At last, a meager fire crackles, dancing shadows over the snow-packed ground. I cradle my injured arm, trying not to wince. Kaelith folds his wings around himself, gaze distant. “We’ll rest here,” he mutters. “At dawn, we move again. If Drayveth recovers, he might try another ambush.”

I nod numbly. Silence stretches between us, thick with unspoken words. My body aches, my magic hovers dangerously close to the surface, and my lips still burn with the memory of that kiss. Anxiety churns in my belly, but part of me clings to the hope that this was more than a momentary lapse born of adrenaline. Yet, if I dwell on it, I might unravel.

I shift, curling my cloak around me for warmth, leaning against the trunk of the pine. Kaelith remains near the fire, arms folded, jaw set in a grim line. The tether hums with our ragged emotional states. I feel his gaze slide to me occasionally, as though he can’t help but check that I’m still breathing. Despite the tension, that awareness soothes me more than I’d like to admit.

As the night wears on, exhaustion claims us. My eyes droop, head throbbing. I drift in and out of a restless doze, haunted by nightmares of Drayveth’s shadow serpent, the lethal burst of my own magic, and glimpses of Nerezza’s twisted visage. I jolt awake, heart hammering, only to find Kaelith crouched beside me, murmuring words I can’t fully decipher. His hand brushes my forehead, and I slip back into uneasy slumber, comforted by his presence.

When dawn finally creeps into the sky, pale light reveals a fresh dusting of snow over the pines. My shoulder is stiff, the bandage crusted with dried blood. Kaelith stands at the edge of our camp, scanning the horizon. The injury on his head has partially clotted, though dark bruises color his arms. He seems lost in thought, or perhaps just waiting for me to stir.

My cheeks warm as I recall the kiss—and the confusion that followed. We haven’t addressed it. The moment we locked eyes earlier, he’d turned away, his expression a mix of longing and pain.Maybe it’s better to focus on survival.I push myself up, biting back a groan.

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