Chapter 9 The Fire Between Us

Rael's POV

I had killed for less.

Men who defied me, traitors to the crown, those who dared look at me with insolence in their eyes. I had reduced them to ashes without a second thought. But standing in those ruins-watching Kaela glow with moonlight not her own-I felt powerless.

Not weak. Just... stripped bare.

She looked at me as if she remembered everything. Not just the shrine. Not just magic. But me.

And that terrified me more than any blade ever could.

Nobody uttered a word as we traveled back to the encampment. The moon followed behind the clouds as a spectral light danced across her face. Each passing second, I stole covert glances to store her features inside my mind because I suspected I might someday eliminate her.

And I didn't know if I could.

When we finally reached the perimeter ward, the guards gave us confused looks, as though they felt the same strange shift I did. The very earth buzzed around her now, like the land remembered who she was, even if the people had forgotten.

Kaela dismounted first. Her cloak fluttered in the wind, and for a breathless second, she looked like a queen. No-not a queen. A goddess.

I jumped down beside her. "You should rest."

She lifted an eyebrow. "Therefore, I won't interfere with your covert war gatherings?"

"I currently don't need a diversion."

Her eyes darkened. "Then you shouldn't have kissed me."

My jaw tightened. That kiss... that cursed kiss had never left my mind. It haunted me more than any spell or scar. "That was a mistake."

"Was it?"

With determination behind her chin, she took one more step closer. She didn't cower, didn't flinch. The fire on my fingers shifted, but she maintained her courage instead of a fearful retreat. Your gaze showed beyond doubt that you meant your promises. "Like you knew me."

"I don't know you."

"You're lying."

My magic flared. I turned away before I scorched the air between us. "You're dangerous, Kaela. More than you know."

"Then kill me," she said.

I spun around. "Don't tempt me."

She didn't move. "Because you can't."

God's help me, she was right.

At that moment, I rushed forward but naturally discovered she continued walking behind me.

Maps, together with scrolls, remained unattended on the command tent tabletop since the dawn began. I moved several maps out of the way while forceful self-assurance marked my movements.

Using a soft voice, she spoke, "You consider me an enemy." "Perhaps I'm the only person who can assist you."

"I don't require assistance."

She moved closer to me to say "Yes" before entering my personal space. "You're burning alive inside, Rael. You use your bloody tasks to mask your true exhaustion because you understand your condition. Alone."

I gripped my hands tightly. "Stop feigning comprehension of me."

"I do. Because I remember."

I looked up.

And her eyes shimmered with a memory that didn't belong to this life. "You were the boy who found me in the forest. The one who tried to save me when the moon cracked."

The words she spoke refused me to accept them because I needed it to be untrue. I couldn't.

A wounded but authentic version of that teenage boy still lived within me despite my sincere attempt to deny his existence.

The words flowed like trauma-infused revelations when I said, "I failed you." "I let them kill you."

Tears welled in her eyes. "And yet here we are. Again."

Silence divided us as we stood there together amid an uncomfortable void of unspoken emotions.

As I spoke those words, I realized my newfound fears about protecting her. "Not from my father. Not from myself."

"Then don't," she said. "Just stand beside me."

I stared at her-at the woman who'd returned from death, who shattered every rule I'd known.

Moving closer, the flames turned dull because of my touch.

I kissed her, but my intentions were genuine.

Not a battle won.

Not a surrender.

But a promise.