Lyra didn't sleep that night,her notebook lay open beside her,the faint shimmer of Kael's message still etched on the page:"Do not hide from me."her fingers hovered over the pen.Zhe had so many questions,so many things she wanted to ask but every word felt like stepping into danger and yet… she couldn't stop herself.
She wrote quickly, a single, carefully measured sentence "Why me?"
The paper barely dried before the reply appeared,curling along the edge of the page like smoke:"Because you see and don't run."
Lyra's heart skipped,it wasn't just that he could read and reply it was that the words carried intention,awareness,and… something else,something that made her pulse spike and her stomach tighten.
She spent the night in a quiet daze, alternating between writing questions and staring at the blank page for answers,never certain which words would provoke a reaction,the next morning,she avoided the usual paths through campus,weaving past early students and dorm runners,notebook clutched like armor.She was extra careful, observant,trying to predict danger before it arrived,but Kael found her anyway.
He didn't rush or announce himself,he just appeared,leaning against the library wall with that same coiled precision she knew too well.His dark eyes were fixed on her, calm yet piercing."You didn't sleep," he observed,Lyra stiffened "I was… busy." Not a lie.She had spent the night balancing fear, curiosity, and the faint trace of something she didn't name.
He stepped closer, careful, measured, predator and protector intertwined. "Busy writing?"
She glanced down at her notebook, heart hammering. "Maybe."
Kael's lips curved slightly. "And did you ask questions?"
"Yes," she admitted, meeting his gaze. "But I'm not sure I want your answers."
"Answers change nothing," he said. "But they clarify danger. And right now… I need you clear."
Lyra frowned. "Clear about what?"
He tilted his head slightly, studying her. The light brushed his features, highlighting the sharp angles of his face, the faint glint in his eyes that reminded her of… teeth. Predatory. Controlled. Terrifying.
"Elias," he said simply. "He knows. He's watching. Testing. Waiting. You cannot be naive, Lyra. Not now."
Her stomach dropped. She had suspected it, but hearing it aloud from Kael — controlled, precise, aware — made it real. She wasn't just under threat. She was in the middle of it.
"But letters," she whispered, clutching the notebook. "They… help. They let me… communicate safely."
Kael's eyes softened fractionally. "They do. But they do not hide you from him. Or me."
Lyra's chest tightened. "I'm human," she said, almost pleading. "I don't know what to do."
"You survive," he said. "As you always have. But now… you're not alone."
Her heartbeat faltered. Alone… she hadn't been alone in months. Not since Kael started appearing, subtle, precise, always watching. And yet, she wasn't sure whether she should trust that presence.
Then, faintly — almost imperceptibly — a ripple of energy passed through the courtyard. A shadow beyond the tree line, deliberate, calculating. Alessia.
Kael's posture stiffened, every muscle coiled. He didn't speak, didn't need to. The warning was in the air, in the pull she felt toward him,the instinct that screamed:Stay close.
Lyra hugged her notebook to her chest the line between fear and curiosity blurred. And she realized this was no longer just letters, or secrets, or trying to be invisible.
This was a war she had been unwillingly dragged into and Kael Draven, for all his control, power, and danger, was now inextricably part of it.