YLA'S POV
The void shattered.
Not with sound, but with pressure, like the world itself caved in around us. The abyss surged, a living tide of claws and teeth, and for a heartbeat the silver light around me sputtered.
Kael's hand brushed mine—heat, raw and desperate—and I clung to it as if the entire universe wanted to tear us apart.
The Binder's voice howled from every direction, splitting the air, crawling into my skull.
"Together, then. Together you will drown."
The dark crushed down.
My knees buckled. The moonlight flickered, collapsing under the sheer weight of it. The bond strained—Kael's fire flickering, faltering—until fear cracked through me sharper than any blade.
No. Not like this. Not here.
I forced my eyes open. Kael's face swam through the storm, grim, feral, his teeth bared as he braced against shadows that clawed into his skin. For an instant, he looked more beast than man, his power raw and burning. And still—he held my gaze.
