It was not an ancient bond; it was simply the weight of his power.
Keeper Sora’s eyes searched my face. “Are you all right, Kaelia?”
I offered her a wry, tired smile. “Yes. Thank you for the history, Keeper.”
“Rest now,” she said softly. “Knowledge settles differently after sleep.”
I nodded and moved toward the dark corridor.
The Sayel no longer existed.
That was what the records said. And records did not lie.
I had to believe that. Because the alternative—that I was a target for the High Court and the destined half to a creature born of fracture—was a thought I could not afford to have.
8
CHAPTER EIGHT
An unnatural draft swept across the stone floor, pulling the warmth from the room.
Even before I opened my eyes, I felt it. A prickle of awareness traced a path down my spine, my breathing turning shallow as the sensation of being watched settled over me.
I did not need to see him to know the shape of the shadow waiting in the corner of the room.
Slowly, I peeled my eyes open and looked toward the arched window.
Moonlight filtered through the iron bars of the arched glass, spilling pale silver across the floor.
He stood within it as though he had stepped out of the night itself. One hand rested lightly against the stone beside him, long fingers splayed as if testing the texture of the wall.
The light traced the breadth of his shoulders and caught along the dark, etched markings that curved over his forearms.In the silver glow, his skin looked like polished bronze, and the shadows near him did not fall away, they leaned inward, drawn toward him like iron filings to a magnet.
“How did you get in here?” I asked. “There is a guard stationed at the door.”
“Is there?” Talon mused, his gaze remaining on the window. “I would not know. I did not use the door.”
I pushed myself up, pulling the thick wool blanket higher. Despite the night chill, a strange, radiating heat emanated from his proximity.
“You cannot invite yourself into someone’s sleeping chambers,” I blinked incredulously. “That is intrusive!”
“I see.” He finally turned his head, his icy blue gaze pinning me to the pillows. “And yet, you are not calling for help.”
I gritted my teeth, suppressing the urge to hurl a pillow at his arrogant face.
I hated how easily he read the lack of alarm in my posture. I hated even more that he was right—I was not afraid. I was agitated.
“You must leave.”
“Tell me, Kaelia,” he began, ignoring my dismissal as he moved further into the room. “How fares the search? Have you found a soul ‘suitable’ enough to satisfy the council’s ledgers?”
“That is none of your concern.”
“No?” He stopped at the edge of the moonlight, half-veiled in shadow. “I am the reason every unbound person fears their solstice. I would say I am the most concerned party in this room.”
I rolled my eyes. “You are incredibly arrogant.”
“I am a realist,” he countered. “And I am assuming your presence here, among the dust and the dead, means the search is not going as well as you had hoped.”