Page 48 of Blood Marked

TWENTY

KAEL

Kael had dozed between half-lucid dreams and full-bodied nightmares, each one bleeding into the next until his sheets were soaked with sweat and his chest ached like he’d fought something real.

In every dream, Selene died.

Sometimes by blade. Sometimes by fire. Once, most vividly—she was curled on the Stone of Binding, throat slick with blood, her hand still reaching for his even as the light left her eyes.

And every time, it washis fault.

He woke each time with a gasp, heart pounding, Mark burning.

It wasn’t just prophecy anymore. It was fear. Real, clawing fear.

He stared into the hearth now, boots propped against the edge of the stone, the flame’s low flicker casting shadows on the floor like ghosts circling closer.

She’d saved him.

He still didn’t fully know how. Just that one moment, he’d been lost—mind gone, body blood-soaked, beast in full control—and the next, she was there. Walking through the carnage like she had every right to drag him out of it.

She hadn’t yelled. Hadn’t flinched. She’d looked at him like shesawhim. And he wasn’t sure what to do with that because no one saw him. Not fully. Not since…Elara.

His stomach twisted.

Elara had loved the heir. The prince. The idea of the throne and the promises sewn into his blood. But Selene?

Selene challenged him, fought him,kissedhim like she was defying the gods and everyone else who said they didn’t belong.

And then she’d stared down a monster to pull him back to himself. She made him feel human. Not because of the Mark. Not because the bond said she should.

But because she chose to.

And maybe that’s why he kept dreaming about not being able to save her.

He clenched a fist over his thigh.

This was the part that was going to kill him. Because he couldn’t have her. He couldn’t keep her because he knew that these dreams weren’t just fear—they were warnings. Visions from the Mark. Premonitions soaked in magic older than the mountain itself.

She was going to die if she stayed close to him. If she stayedhis.

A knock pulled him from the spiral.

He didn’t answer. The door opened anyway.

“Nyra,” he said without turning.

“Still brooding,” she said, boots echoing as she crossed the stone. “Impressive stamina. Even for you.”

“Not in the mood.”

She dropped into the chair across from him, flicking something off her boot. “You never are. Look, I just came to say she’s been walking the halls again.”

Kael tensed.

“She found the old Veilwalker room. You know, the hidden one.”

He looked at her then. “You let her gothere?”

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