Page 77 of Blood Marked

Kael didn’t answer. He justcharged.

Their blades met in a shriek of sparks.

Kael drove forward, fury behind every blow. Varyn dodged fast—toofast—his own blade lined with some kind of enchantment that clashed with Kael’s aura.

“You think this is about you?” Varyn shouted, parrying. “You think she waseveryours?”

Kael’s blade found the bastard’s shoulder. Blood splattered.

“You were the fool that made her vulnerable,” Varyn hissed, eyes wild. “You severed her protection. You made this possible.”

Kael tackled him. They hit the ground hard. Kael didn’t try to fight clean. He punched. Again. And again. Until Varyn’s face was barely recognizable, and his own knuckles bled.

And still, the ritual glow pulsed beneath Selene like a heartbeat made of magic.

“Selene,” Kael breathed, crawling to her side once Varyn lay there motionless.

Her eyes fluttered open. Weak. Pain-filled. Butthere.

“I’m here,” he whispered. “I’ve got you.”

Her lips moved. He leaned close.

“You’re late,” she breathed.

Kael nearly laughed. Nearly cried.

He sliced through her chains, hands trembling.

The moment the last one fell away, she collapsed forward into his arms.

And the mark between them flared—hot and violent, surging against the half-completed ritual circle like it meant to break the world in half.

The bond wasn’t dead.

It wasangry.

And Kael?

Kael had never felt more ready to burn everything down.

THIRTY-FOUR

KAEL

Before Kael could get her out of that cursed place, a shockwave ripped through the circle—like a blade buried in the earth, twisted hard.

He didn’t see it. Hefeltit. Like the world itself cracked beneath his feet.

A deafening silence dropped between heartbeats.

Then pain.

His knees hit the stone. Hard. So did hers. His arms barely caught her before she collapsed completely, her weight crumpling into him like something lifeless.

He was in agony but she wasscreaming. Not aloud. Not with her voice. But through the bond.

It shrieked through every nerve in his body, through every memory and feeling they’d ever shared, and he felt it fracturing, splintering like glass caught in fire.

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