Then, quietly—too quietly: “You should be careful, Aurelia. Kaelith may hear your thoughts.”
A cold line tightened down my spine at that. He was right. Suddenly, every word I’d spoken to her—every truth I’d given her—felt exposed, vulnerable, a blade I’d handed straight to Kaelith. My thoughts shuttered, held far from her. Far from him.
Her breath caught. “That’s how he knew. Back at the castle…” She trailed off, voice thinning. “I was thinking something, and he responded.”
I turned, tension sharpening my spine. “When did you see him?”
A pause. Just long enough to make my jaw clench.
“As I was readying… shortly after you gifted me these,” she said, gesturing to the leathers.
That alone told me more than her words ever could. And I already knew. Because I’d been there.
I’d walked into that room—uninvited, unexpected—and caught her in the middle of something private. Intimate. Her hand slipped beneath the fabric at her waist. Her breath quick, lips parted. A flush blooming up her neck.
It had branded itself in my memory. Mine to carry and never touch.
And knowing Kaelith…
He’d likely been there long before I had. Lurking in the Veil between shadows. Watching.
I knew one thing without doubt. He had seen her. And that knowledge made something cold stir in my chest.
I scrubbed a hand down my face, forcing the memory away, burying it before it unraveled me.
“Aurelia,” I said, voice low but firm, “you’ll stay with me tonight.”
She blinked, startled. “Why?”
“The critical phase of your transition is still unstable. The effects were tempered only because of the draévinth?—”
“The what?”
“The drink Kaelith gave you—the shimmering violet one,” I clarified, glancing toward Lysara and Gabriel so they wouldn’t be left guessing. “I recognized it the moment I saw how dazed you were. Draévinth is used in old blood rites to dull sensation and elevate euphoria. It makes the body too languid to resist and the mind too clouded to fear. You float. You forget.”
Aurelia’s mouth thinned. “Convenient.”
“He didn’t give it to you to be kind,” I said. “He gave it to make the transition easier to control.”
“I figured that much.”
I reached into my satchel and pulled out a small vial. “I brought what I could. Not nearly the amount you had before, but it should keep the worst of the hunger at bay if we ration it.”
She stared at the vial. I could already see the shadows feathering beneath her eyes, the faint tremble in her fingers. Her body was still hers, but just barely.
“It’s not a cure,” I added. “Once the transition completes, the cravings will settle. But until then…” I met her eyes. “You stay close. You stay safe.”
And gods help me, I stay sane.
Lysara didn’t hesitate. She reached over and took Aurelia’s hand.
“We’re not afraid of you,” she said softly. “And we’re not letting Kaelith define what this becomes.”
Santiago gave a low whistle. “Most folk feign a fever to dodge a bad suitor. You chose an immortal blood vow.”
Aurelia huffed—almost a laugh.
Santi grinned, unfazed. “What? You’re still you. Shadowy, dangerous, emotionally constipated.”