Page 93 of The Bound Blood
My jaw tightens.
“I’ll take her from here,” I say.
Dorian hums thoughtfully. “Best let the shadow prince take over. He’s not the type to give you a choice.”
Lindsay doesn’t even get the chance to answer—her knees buckle. My shadows surge, catching her before she hits the ground. Her hand reaches for me instinctively and grips my sleeve.
Dorian notices. His smirk softens into something quieter. Almost looking like calculation shifting toward respect.
“Well then,” he says, turning to guide the girl toward the infirmary. “Try not to glower too loudly, Kael. Some of us find it charming. Others find it terrifying and you wouldn’t want to terrify anyone.”
“Try not to flirt with everything that moves,” I reply.
His laughter echoes down the path.
Once he is out of view, Lindsay turns to me, breathing unevenly. “You… saw?”
“I saw enough,” I say, softer than I mean to. “Enough to know you shouldn’t be standing right now.”
She swallows, eyes flicking over my face. “Kael… how did you see it? You weren’t there.”
My throat tightens.
“I felt you,” I say quietly. “When your magic pressed against the Veil, it… pulled. Hard. It’s impossible not to sense it when it involves you. I felt the tear open, and I felt you close it. And I felt the moment your strength dropped.”
Her breath catches. “So that’s why you showed up. Is that how you track me?”
“No.” My voice slips into something raw. “I showed up because the moment everything went quiet, I knew you were standing in the dark by yourself. And I couldn’t—” I stop, jaw tight. “I couldn’t leave you there.”
Her brows pull together. “You were distant earlier. I thought… maybe you didn’t—” she cuts herself off, but the unfinished words settle between us.
Didn’t care. The idea hits me harder than anything else ever could.
I step closer, shadows curling protectively around her ankles. “Lindsay,” I say. “Don’t ever think that.”
She blinks, surprised at the emotion bleeding through.
“If I was distant,” I continue, “it wasn’t because I don’t care. It was because I care too damn much—and I’m not supposed to.”
The last words fall out before I can catch them.
Her breath puffs out between us. “Kael…”
She searches my face, and God, I want to look away. I want to be stone. But I can’t—not with her.
“And as for how I knew to come…” I exhale slowly. “Your magic reaches for the Veil. Mine responds. It’s not something I can ignore.”
“So you’re connected to it?” she whispers.
“I’m connected toyou,” I say. Quiet. Devastatingly true. “Everything else follows.”
“Because…of the bond that my magic forged?”
I swallow and nod.
Her lips part. She’s stunned.
Then timidly: “You weren’t going to come earlier.”
