Page 67 of Blood Marked

“Until now,” Selene said.

He nodded. “They’ve grown. And someone’s funding them. Someonepowerful.Especially if they were able to carry out this attack.”

She frowned. “Why me?”

Kael met her gaze. “Because of your bloodline.”

Selene’s lips parted slightly.

“They think your line is divine. That you’re a vessel meant to control the Veil. Not bridge it. Not protect it.” His voice cracked. “Control it.”

She was silent again.

But he saw the way her hands trembled.

“How did they know where I was?” she whispered.

Kael didn’t answer.

He didn’t need to.

“Someone in the court,” she said bitterly. “Still feeding them information.”

“Or manipulating them,” Kael said. “Varyn? The council? Maybe even a faction of your own.”

Selene stood and wrapped the cloak tighter around her. Her face was pale, but her spine was straight.

Kael watched her, his heart breaking and expanding at once.

She was terrified. But she wouldn’t show it. He loved her for that.

“Then we go back,” she said. “We stop them.”

“No.” His voice came sharper than he meant. “We don’t face them without a plan.”

“You think we can outrun them forever?”

“No,” he admitted. “But Iwillbuy us time. Time to understand what this second bond means. What your powers are really becoming. What they’reafter.”

She hesitated. Then, slowly, she nodded. But the set of her jaw told him this wasn’t over. She wouldn’t run forever. And he knew he wouldn’t let her.

By morning, they were already moving again.

Kael buried the scroll deep in the forest. He marked the trees in Fenrir glyphs to warn any loyal scout who passed through. He sent Nyra a message through the falcon’s band—three words scratched in quick script:

We’re coming soon.

Because they wouldn’t hide forever. They would fight. Together.

And the Veil would never be the same again.

TWENTY-NINE

KAEL

Kael smelled the smoke before they reached the citadel.

And then he saw it.

---