KAEL'S POV
Stone cracked, the ledge crumbling piece by piece into the abyss below. I pulled Ayla tighter against my chest, her weight frighteningly light in my arms. Her fire was gone—utterly gone—and the silence where it used to hum through her skin terrified me more than the beast we'd just destroyed.
Her head lolled against my shoulder. Her lips parted with shallow breaths. Every rise of her chest was a battle.
"No," I whispered, shaking her gently. "Not like this. Don't you dare leave me."
The abyss below glowed faintly, its depths alive with embers and whispers. It wasn't just empty space—it was watching. I felt it tugging, a pull like a tide trying to drag her away from me.
Not her. Never her.
I staggered back as another quake split the ledge. A jagged fissure opened, fire bleeding through, and chunks of rock toppled into the dark.
I couldn't carry her out of here if the whole canyon fell apart.
And yet—I couldn't let go.
