Page 95 of The Bound Blood
I carry her across the frost-covered path, through a sweep of shadows that part for us like obedient sentinels. Toward the one place she shouldn’t be, but the only place I can bear to put her.
My quarters.
“Sunshine,” I whisper, voice breaking, “you don’t know what you do to me.”
Her hand twitches, as if answering.
I hold her closer and step into the shadows that lead home.
THIRTY-FOUR
LINDSAY
Warmth holdsme before awareness does.
Silky, cool, strangely alive warmth that shifts when I breathe. A soft pull keeps me from rolling over, almost protective. It takes several blinks before my vision clears enough to register the walls. Dark stone. Neat shelves. A single, narrow study table.
I’m in Kael’s quarters.
The realization lands softly and settles under my ribs.
A blanket of shadows drapes over me from shoulders to feet, smoothing themselves whenever I shift. They feel weightless yet firm enough to keep me warm.
I push up onto my elbows. The shadows adjust immediately, supporting me without stopping my movements.
My gaze drifts to the corner.
Kael is asleep in his chair.
His posture is too rigid for actual rest. One hand hangs off the armrest, curled loosely, as if he fell asleep reaching for something. His coat is on the back of the chair. His boots are still laced. His head rests against the stone wall behind him, hair falling over one eye.
Exhaustion clings to him more heavily than the shadows.
A soft ripple stirs across the floor—his shadows reacting to my movement. Some of them return to him in a low wave, brushing his boots and the edge of the chair as if they are trying to get his attention.
He startles awake with a sharp inhale.
His eyes snap open, ice blue catching dim lantern light, scanning until they find me. The instant he recognizes I’m conscious, the hard lines of his expression loosen. Relief crosses his face with raw honesty before he reins it back.
“You’re awake,” he says quietly.
“So it seems.”
He sits forward, elbows on his knees, studying me in a way that feels deeper than a simple check for injuries. His gaze moves from my face to the shadows around me, then back again.
“You fainted.”
“I figured something happened that had me ending up in your room again,” I say. “The shadow blanket is a nice touch.”
His jaw tightens. “They wouldn’t leave you.”
I look down at the shadows curled around my waist and legs. They tighten minutely, acknowledging him, then me.
“They stayed like this the whole time?”
Kael nods once, something unreadable flickering behind his eyes.
“You could’ve taken me to the infirmary.”
