Rhea watched the rise and fall of Kael's bare chest as he lay sprawled on the cave floor, blood drying on his skin in deep crimson streaks.
The firelight flickered across his face, casting his features in gold and shadow. His lashes twitched, and his jaw clenched like he was chasing something in his dreams. Or being hunted.
She hadn't moved since they returned.
Kael hadn't stirred either.
Theron was gone,chained and locked beneath the roots of the Whispering Tree, where no one would hear his screams. Not even the gods.
And still, Rhea waited.
When Kael finally opened his eyes, the silver in them had dimmed. He looked young. Human. Vulnerable.
"You shouldn't have followed me there," he rasped.
"You were dying."
He gave her a soft, bitter smile. "Wouldn't be the first time."
Silence stretched between them.
Then: "Theron said he broke his bond."
Kael looked away.
Rhea stood and walked to the edge of the firelight, where the shadows swallowed everything. "Why didn't you tell me you had a brother?"
"Because I buried that part of my life long ago."
She turned. "What did he do?"
Kael sat up slowly. "Theron… loved recklessly. He let his rage speak louder than his reason. When the Moon Queen marked us both, it was him she wanted more. But he resisted it. Called it a curse. I embraced it. He tried to kill her. I tried to protect her. That was the first betrayal."
Rhea stared. "You loved the Moon Queen?"
Kael's gaze pierced hers. "I thought I did."
Her heart tightened.
"She was beautiful, Rhea," he whispered. "But cruel. Her bond didn't offer partnership it demanded control. I didn't see it at first. But Theron did."
Rhea felt the ground tilt beneath her.
Kael rose to his feet, closing the space between them. "I killed her. Not him."
Her breath hitched. "What?"
"She used me to kill a village that defied her. An entire bloodline of seers. I saw their eyes as they burned." His voice trembled. "That's when I knew she had to be stopped. But I couldn't kill her alone."
He reached out, brushing her cheek with the back of his knuckles.
"So I begged Theron for help. And when we finally destroyed her body… we thought the curse died with it."
Rhea's heart ached. "But it didn't."
"No. The curse waited for you."
She looked up into his eyes. "And now?"
He stepped closer, the bond humming low and insistent.
"Now it wants us to finish what we started."
His lips hovered just over hers close enough to steal her breath, far enough to let her choose.
Rhea's fingers curled in his shirt, tugging him forward.
Kael groaned deep in his throat, his mouth crashing over hers like a storm.
Fire licked through her veins.
His hands gripped her waist, pulling her tight against him. The bond flared, brilliant and sharp. Magic tingled at the edge of her skin like frost and flame.
When they finally pulled apart, Kael's forehead rested against hers, both of them panting.
"We can't rush this," he whispered.
"Why?"
"Because once I take you… there's no undoing it. No walking away. You'll carry me. And I'll carry you. Forever."
Rhea's voice trembled. "What if I'm not afraid of forever?"
He smiled faintly. "Then gods help us both."
Just then, the fire sputtered then extinguished on its own.
The cave darkened.
And in the silence, a voice echoed from the shadows.
"So the second Queen has chosen her king."
Kael pulled Rhea behind him instantly.
From the darkness emerged a figure cloaked in starlight and bone.
Tall. Glowing. Beautiful.
Not mortal.
The Moon Queen's ghost.
Or something worse.