Page 152 of Godbound
I exhale loudly, which earns me an exaggerated eye roll. “What?” I say. “I’m relieved. I was right.”
“For once,” she mutters flatly.
I smile, then gesture toward the door. “We need to get you to safety. To Calista’s temple. Once you’re there?—”
“I’ll never be safe,” she interrupts, slumping into a chair like her bones can’t hold her anymore. “The moment I’m away from you, the prince will come for me. He’ll finish what he started. And you won’t even know I’m in trouble.”
Her gaze flicks to the ring on my finger, the one she once doubted. The one she now knows was forged to protect. An idea sparks in mymind.
“Then take it,” I say quickly. “Take the ring. If Mael comes for you, Kaelzar will know. He gave me his shadow to protect my life if I’m in danger.” I hold out my arm, showing her the black mark inked into my skin.
“That’s more than enough to keep me safe. But if something happens to you while you’re wearing it, he’ll come.”
She blinks, like she’s not sure she heard me right. Or like the idea that Kaelzar cares is somehow still… unbelievable. Why that still surprises her is confusing to me, but this isn’t the time to defend him.
But the flicker of disbelief fades fast, and she presses her lips together in a mockingly thoughtful expression. “You’d have to ask nicely,” she says.
I grimace and crouch before her, holding out my hand with the ring like an offering.
“Would you accept the ring, please?”
She holds out her hand, darkened fingers extended like royalty expecting to be adorned. “Sure,” she says casually.
Grumbling, I slide the ring off my finger and place it on hers. She exhales the moment it touches her skin, and for a breath, darkness passes over her face. For a second, I want to snatch it back.
But she’s already pulled her hand away and sprung to her feet. There’s still a shadow in her expression, but she masks it quickly with a smirk.
“Well then,” she says, brushing her hands together. “Shall we head to the temple?” The edge of her voice is still brittle, and the smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
I nod, and side by side, we turn toward the door.
Downstairs, Kaelzar waits by the door. As we descend, his eyes immediately fall to my now bare hand. The shadows around him ripple, spiking like claws from a nightmare creature before vanishing just as quickly.
Peonica strides past him without pause, tossing a casual wave as she heads outside where Levi waits with the horses. But Kaelzar doesn’t move. His arm shoots out, stopping me at the threshold.
His jaw clenches so tight I half expect to hear it crack. “Where is it?” he asks with that breathless tone people use when they’re one second away from shouting.
“I gave the ring to Peonica,” I say, frowning. “I don’t need it anymore. Not with your shadow mark.” I lift my arm in quiet emphasis, gesturing to sharp swirls of his own shadows now inked into my skin.
He stares at me, and in his storm-gray eyes, something dark churns, it is intense enough that doubt curls low in my gut. “Is that a problem?” I ask, carefully.
His nostrils flare. My heart climbs into my throat. “Kaelzar,” I snap, suddenly defensive. “Will the ring still alert you if she’s in danger?”
He doesn’t answer right away. Instead, his hands curl into fists at his sides. “You shouldn’t have done it,” he growls.
Then he turns on his heel so sharply I stumble back a step. The door slams open with a jolt of magic and Kaelzar storms outside, leaving me standing there—stunned, uncertain, and with a new knot of panic growing fast in my gut.
The next two days blur into hours of cleaning, rebuilding, organizing, and trying to settle into the temple. The sheer number of women and their loved ones helps speed things along, but coordinating so many people drains every last bit of energy from me.
Every minute, someone is in front of me: reporting progress, waiting for directions, asking how to fix a mistake. And I, who never thought I’d be fully in charge of anything, let alone the lives of dozens, am not prepared for this.
But I feel them.
I feel each girl I pulled from the fire, each woman healed by my Blood Magic, each pair of eyes that still looks at me as if I am their salvation—there’s something of each of them left in me. An invisible thread tugs from their hearts to mine with every breath. That strange connection binds me to them in ways I can’t explain and even in my rarest private moments, their presence lingers. Strangely, I find comfort in that.
Kaelzar stays at my side the entire time, reminding me to eat, though shoving whatever he hands me into my mouth while on the move barely counts as a meal. His constant scowl does more for crowd control than I ever could, keeping demands and complaints at least somewhat respectful. But hunger, uncertainty, and fear still do their work.
The people are restless, desperate to know if they’re truly safebehind these walls, or if Chastity Wardens will come bursting through the gates the moment I vanish into the final challenge.
