"Hello, Lyra."
For several seconds, she simply stared at him.
He was real.
That was the first thought that entered her mind.
Not a voice.
Not a shadow.
Not a face hidden behind darkness in a dream.
Real.
Rainwater still clung to his dark hair. His clothes were black, though Lyra couldn't tell whether they had once been something finer. The journey through the forest had left mud along the edges of his boots, but somehow he still looked as though he did not belong anywhere near the ruined sanctuary.
He belonged in the palace she had seen beyond the Veiled Gate.
On a throne.
With a crown made of darkness resting on his head.
Kael.
Her heart recognized him before the rest of her did.
"You're real," she finally said.
His expression barely changed.
"That is usually how this works."
Lyra blinked.
That was not what she had expected.
She glanced at Seris.
The older woman stood between them, one hand gripping her knife.
Lyra looked back at Kael.
"You were in my head."
Kael's gaze remained on her.
"You were in mine first."
"I don't know what that means."
"I know."
Something in his voice changed on the last word.
It was small.
Almost nothing.
But Lyra felt it.
Pain.
Before she could decide what to do with that, Seris stepped forward.
"You need to leave."
Kael finally looked at her.
The air in the sanctuary changed.
Until that moment, Lyra had been certain that Seris feared Kael because of the Crown.
Now she realized that wasn't the entire truth.
They knew each other.
And whatever had happened between them had not ended peacefully.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"You look older."
Seris tightened her grip on the knife.
"You should be dead."
Lyra's eyes widened.
Kael's mouth almost curved into a smile.
"I had hoped you'd be happier to see me."
"After what you've become?"
His expression disappeared.
The shadows near his feet stirred.
Lyra felt the sudden change through their connection.
Anger.
Cold and sharp.
Kael took a step forward.
Seris immediately raised her knife.
Lyra moved between them before she had time to think.
"Stop."
Neither listened.
Kael's eyes remained fixed on Seris.
Seris's gaze did not leave him.
"Stay away from him," Seris said.
Lyra looked at her.
"I'm standing right here."
"Lyra—"
"No."
She turned toward Kael.
"You."
His eyebrows lifted slightly.
"You have been speaking inside my head for two days."
"Technically, you spoke first."
"Not helping."
Something almost amused passed through his eyes.
Lyra pointed at Seris.
"And you."
Seris sighed.
Lyra looked between them.
"Apparently, both of you have spent years knowing things about me that I don't know."
Neither spoke.
"Wonderful."
Kael folded his arms.
"I assume this is the part where you demand answers."
"Yes."
"A reasonable response."
Seris stepped forward.
"No."
Lyra slowly turned toward her.
"No?"
"He cannot stay."
Kael gave a cold laugh.
"Sixteen years too late for that."
Seris's face hardened.
Lyra stared at him.
"What does that mean?"
Kael looked directly at Seris.
"Ask her what happened the night you disappeared."
Seris's jaw tightened.
"Kael."
"What?"
"Enough."
"No."
The word came from both Lyra and Kael.
For the first time, Kael looked at her.
A strange silence followed.
Lyra felt something through the bond.
Surprise.
Then something warmer.
She quickly ignored it.
"Nobody is leaving," Lyra said. "Not until someone explains what is happening."
Seris shook her head.
"You don't understand."
"Then explain it."
Kael leaned against the stone wall.
"She's very good at avoiding that."
Lyra pointed at him.
"You are not much better."
His expression became unreadable again.
"Fair."
Seris looked between them.
Then, finally, she lowered her knife.
Only slightly.
"Fine," Lyra said. "Start talking."
---
For several moments, no one did.
The fire crackled quietly.
Lyra remained standing in the middle of the sanctuary with her arms crossed.
Seris stood near the window.
Kael remained near the entrance.
Neither seemed willing to begin.
Lyra sighed.
"Did you both suddenly forget how words work?"
Kael looked at her.
"You always did hate silence."
Lyra frowned.
"You know that?"
His expression changed.
The smallest hint of a smile appeared.
Then he looked away.
And suddenly, Lyra understood.
He remembered things about her.
Small things.
Ordinary things.
Things she had forgotten.
A strange ache settled in her chest.
She looked at him.
"What were we?"
The smile disappeared.
Seris closed her eyes.
Kael remained silent.
Lyra felt anger rising again.
"Don't."
Kael looked at her.
"Don't what?"
"Look at me like that."
His eyebrows drew together.
"Like what?"
"Like you're trying to decide which lie hurts me the least."
For the first time, Kael had no answer.
Then he said quietly:
"We were friends."
Lyra waited.
"And?"
Kael's gaze lowered.
"More than strangers."
"That explains absolutely nothing."
"No."
His voice was quiet.
"It doesn't."
Lyra stepped closer.
"Then tell me something I remember."
Kael looked at her for a long moment.
When he spoke again, his voice had changed.
Not softer.
Just less guarded.
"You used to climb out of your bedroom window."
Lyra blinked.
"What?"
"You hated your lessons."
"That sounds like something I would do."
Kael's mouth twitched.
"It was."
Lyra crossed her arms.
"What happened?"
"You fell."
Her eyes narrowed.
"That sounds less like me."
"You landed on me."
Lyra stared at him.
For one moment, Seris almost smiled.
Lyra looked between them.
"Then I hope I apologized."
Kael's eyes returned to hers.
"You laughed."
Lyra opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
That did sound like something she would do.
The thought made her smile.
Only for a second.
Then the smile disappeared.
Because Kael was still watching her.
Not with amusement.
With something that looked almost like grief.
The boy who remembered her was standing in front of her.
And she could not remember him back.
Lyra looked away first.
---
"So," she said, forcing her voice to remain steady, "what exactly is this?"
She held up her wrist.
The mark was visible beneath her sleeve.
Kael's expression darkened.
Seris immediately looked uneasy.
"A bond," Kael said.
"I know that much."
"You feel me."
"I would prefer not to."
Kael almost smiled.
"Unfortunately, neither of us has much choice."
Lyra stared at him.
"What does that mean?"
"The bond is unstable."
"How unstable?"
Kael hesitated.
Lyra immediately disliked that.
"Kael."
His gaze moved toward her wrist.
"The more your memories awaken, the stronger it becomes."
Lyra looked down at the mark.
"What can it do?"
"We don't know yet."
"We?"
Kael ignored her.
"You may see my memories."
Lyra froze.
"And?"
"I may see yours."
Lyra slowly looked at him.
"You are not seeing my memories."
"I don't particularly want to."
"Good."
"Believe me."
She narrowed her eyes.
Kael sighed.
"The bond can also carry emotions."
Lyra blinked.
"What?"
Before Kael could answer, a strange warmth spread through her chest.
It wasn't hers.
She looked at him.
His expression had changed.
He felt it too.
Surprise.
Lyra stepped backward.
"You just—"
"Yes."
"Stop."
"I didn't do anything."
"Then make it stop."
Kael stared at her.
"If I could control it, don't you think I would?"
Lyra opened her mouth.
Then stopped.
Because he was right.
She hated that.
Kael stepped forward.
Slowly.
"Lyra."
"What?"
"I need you to trust me for a moment."
"That has become an incredibly dangerous sentence."
His expression almost softened.
"I know."
He held out his hand.
Lyra stared at it.
Seris immediately moved.
"No."
Lyra looked at her.
"What?"
"Don't touch him."
Kael's eyes hardened.
Lyra felt his anger before she saw it.
That was new.
She looked back at his hand.
"What happens if I do?"
"I don't know."
Lyra stared at him.
"That is the worst possible answer."
"It is the honest one."
For some reason, that mattered.
Lyra slowly placed her hand in his.
The moment their skin touched—
The sanctuary disappeared.
---
Screaming.
Lyra stood in darkness.
No.
Not darkness.
A palace.
She knew it.
The same palace from her memory.
Except this time, everything was clearer.
Fire burned along the walls.
People were shouting.
She was younger.
Small.
Her hand was locked around Kael's.
"Don't let go," he said.
Lyra looked up.
This time, she saw him.
A boy.
Older than her.
Terrified.
But trying not to show it.
Someone screamed.
The sound came from the end of the corridor.
Lyra turned.
A woman stood there.
Seris.
Younger.
Her hair darker.
Her face filled with panic.
"Kael!"
He pulled Lyra behind him.
Seris ran toward them.
"Give her to me."
"No."
Lyra's heart began to race.
Seris reached for her.
Kael stepped back.
"You said you would protect her."
"I am trying to!"
"Then don't take her away!"
The palace shook.
Darkness crawled across the walls.
Lyra screamed.
Kael pulled her closer.
Seris grabbed Lyra's arm.
"No!"
Lyra's fingers slipped.
Kael's hand disappeared.
The memory shattered.
---
Lyra stumbled backward.
Kael caught her before she hit the ground.
His hands closed around her arms.
She stared at him.
For a second, neither moved.
Then Lyra pulled away.
She turned toward Seris.
"You were there."
Seris looked as though she had been struck.
Lyra's voice shook.
"You took me."
"Lyra—"
"You took me from him."
Seris closed her eyes.
Kael's voice became cold.
"Tell her."
Seris looked at him.
"You don't understand."
Kael laughed.
It was not amused.
"I understand perfectly."
Lyra stared between them.
"Did you take me from him?"
Seris said nothing.
The silence stretched.
Then—
"Yes."
The word hit harder than Lyra expected.
She took a step backward.
Kael looked away.
Seris continued.
"I had no choice."
"You always had a choice," Kael said.
Seris's eyes flashed.
"You think I wanted to do it?"
"I think you did it anyway."
"Because the Crown was destroying everything!"
Silence.
Lyra stared at her.
"What happened?"
Seris stopped.
Kael looked toward Lyra.
"Ask her what she did next."
Seris's face became pale.
Lyra knew before she asked.
"You erased me."
Seris looked at her.
Tears filled her eyes.
"I saved you."
"You erased my memories."
"You were a child."
"That doesn't give you the right."
"You don't know what would have happened if I hadn't."
Lyra's throat tightened.
"What would have happened?"
Seris looked at Kael.
Neither answered.
Lyra's anger turned into something worse.
She looked at Kael.
"Did I want to leave?"
The silence that followed was unbearable.
Kael closed his eyes.
For the first time, Lyra felt his pain through the bond.
Raw.
Sharp.
She almost wished she couldn't.
Finally, he opened his eyes.
"No."
One word.
That was all.
But it broke something inside her.
---
Lyra turned away.
She walked toward the far side of the sanctuary.
She needed space.
She needed silence.
Unfortunately, neither seemed interested in giving it to her.
After several minutes, she turned back.
One question remained.
She looked directly at Kael.
"How are you here?"
Kael's expression changed.
Seris immediately understood.
Her face lost color.
"What did you do?"
Kael did not look at her.
Lyra waited.
Finally, he answered.
"I broke it."
Lyra frowned.
"The Crown?"
"No."
Kael's eyes moved toward the mark on her wrist.
"The prison."
The room became silent.
Lyra looked at Seris.
Then back at Kael.
"What prison?"
"The place where they put me."
"Who?"
Kael's jaw tightened.
"The people who put the Crown on my head."
Seris moved closer.
"You were sealed inside the Shadow Realm."
"I was."
"And now you're not."
"No."
Seris looked terrified.
Lyra slowly understood.
"The Gate."
Kael nodded.
"When you opened it, the barrier weakened."
Lyra stared at her hand.
"I let you out."
"Yes."
"And the Wraith."
Kael's silence answered.
Lyra looked toward the entrance.
"Oh."
Kael stepped closer.
"Lyra—"
"I opened a prison."
"Yes."
She stared at him.
"You could have warned me."
"I didn't know you were going to touch it."
"That sounds like blaming me."
"It wasn't."
"It sounded like it."
For a moment, Kael looked almost amused.
Then the ground shook.
Everyone froze.
The fire flickered.
The small stones Seris had placed around the sanctuary began to crack.
One shattered.
Then another.
Seris turned toward the window.
"No."
Kael's expression changed.
Lyra felt it immediately.
Fear.
Not anger.
Not pain.
Fear.
She looked at him.
"What is it?"
Kael moved toward the entrance.
Shadows gathered around his feet.
Outside, something moved.
More than one thing.
The darkness beyond the sanctuary walls began to deepen.
Seris drew her knife.
Kael's hand moved toward the weapon at his side.
Lyra looked between them.
"Who found us?"
Kael looked at her.
For the first time since she had met him, his voice was completely serious.
"The people who put the Crown on my head."
Outside, something struck the sanctuary door.
The entire building trembled.
Lyra looked at Kael.
His eyes had become darker.
The shadows around him rose.
And suddenly, she understood one terrifying thing.
Whatever was outside—
Even Kael was afraid of it.
The door cracked.
And the lights went out.