Kael
Kael felt her before he saw her.
It wasn't mystical—not exactly. It was instinct. The same quiet pull that alerted him to danger, to imbalance. Lyra Vale had stepped back onto campus, and something in the air shifted with her.
He watched from the upper floor of the library as she crossed the courtyard below, her pace steadier than before, her shoulders no longer curled inward. She wore a pale sweater that caught the light too easily.
She didn't look invisible anymore.
That was the problem.
"She's back," Julien said softly behind him.
Kael didn't respond.
Cassian leaned against the railing, eyes tracking the same figure. "You should've stayed distant," he said, not unkindly. "Now they're watching her."
Kael's jaw tightened. "Who."
Cassian's gaze flicked toward a group of students whispering near the fountain. "Everyone."
Lyra
Lyra noticed it by her second class.
The silence.
Not the comfortable kind—but the pointed pauses when she entered a room. Conversations cutting short. Eyes lingering a second too long. A girl she didn't know muttered something under her breath as Lyra passed.
She's the one.
Lyra kept her head high anyway.
By lunchtime, Talia slammed her tray down across from her. "Okay. Something weird is happening."
Lyra poked at her food. "How weird?"
"People are saying you're… involved with Kael."
Lyra froze.
"Involved how?" she asked carefully.
Talia hesitated. "Depends who you ask. Some say you're using him. Others say he's… keeping you."
Lyra's stomach twisted. "That's not—"
"I know," Talia said quickly. "But rumors don't care about truth. And whoever started this did it on purpose."
Lyra swallowed hard.
She felt it then—fear, sharp and unwelcome. Not of Kael. Of attention. Of being pulled into something she hadn't agreed to.
She stood abruptly. "I need air."
She didn't plan to find him.
But the campus had a way of narrowing paths.
The old greenhouse stood quiet at the edge of campus—unused, forgotten. Lyra pushed the door open and stepped inside, heart pounding.
"Lyra."
She turned.
Kael stood just inside the doorway, eyes dark, expression unreadable.
"They're talking about me," she said before he could speak. Her voice didn't shake—but it wanted to. "About us."
His jaw tightened. "I know."
"Did you—" She stopped herself. "Did you say anything?"
"No."
"Then why?" she demanded. "Why am I suddenly… visible?"
He took a step closer, then stopped—like he was drawing a line even now.
"Because someone wanted to see how you'd react," he said quietly. "And how I would."
Lyra laughed once, sharp. "Congratulations. I hate it."
Silence fell.
Then—finally—Kael spoke honestly.
"I told myself distance would protect you," he said. "That if I didn't touch you, didn't claim you, you'd stay untouched by my world."
She stared at him. "And?"
"And I was wrong."
Her breath caught.
"Kael," she said softly, "what are you not telling me?"
His hands clenched at his sides.
This was the choice.
Control—or protection.
If he stayed silent, he could keep her safe from the truth.
If he spoke… there was no undoing it.
"They will keep pushing," he said at last. "Until you break. Or until I do something they can't ignore."
Her voice dropped. "What kind of something?"
He met her gaze fully now. No shadows. No games.
"The kind that reveals what I am."
Her pulse thundered.
"What you are," she repeated.
"I won't lie to you," he said. "But I won't drag you into my darkness without your consent."
The word landed between them like a promise.
Lyra stepped closer—closing the space he'd refused to cross.
"Then don't protect me by choosing for me," she said. "Protect me by letting me choose."
For a long moment, Kael didn't move.
Then he nodded—once.
"Meet me here tomorrow night," he said quietly. "After the library closes."
Her heart raced. "And then?"
"And then," he said, voice low and dangerous, "I stop pretending control is enough."
They stood there, the air thick with everything unspoken.
When Lyra finally turned to leave, she felt it—certainty.
Whatever waited beyond tomorrow—
There would be no going back.