Page 96 of Godbound
But the burn behind my eyes says otherwise. My chest tightens, breath trembling as that familiar voice in my head claws its way back up—the one that always whispers I’ll never be enough.
Not for my father, who never forgave me for being his daughter.
Not for Ryker, who never chose me over tradition.
And not for my Godbeast, who looks like he’d rather crush myheart beneath his heel than ever hold it gently in his hands.
Anger floods in to fill the hollow space. It’s easier. It always is. Fueled by it, I lean forward until our noses almost touch. “The real waste,” I say coolly, “was all the time I spent under the same roof with you. I think it’s time for you to take?—”
A violent rush of magic seizes me before I can finish. My body folds in on itself. The pressure flares outward. In the chaos of the last few minutes, I lost track of the storm I’d been holding back. Now it surges free, grinding against my bones, burning through my veins. My arms and legs tremble with the ache, and a whimper slips past my lips as the magic tears for release.
Kaelzar moves. He carefully scoops me up again with startling ease, wrapping me in the blanket as though I weigh nothing.
“Kaelzar, what—” My protest turns into a squeal as he shifts me in his arms and begins to move.
The air around us thickens almost immediately, the space growing heavier, more oppressive. It’s as if we’ve walked into a dense spiderweb that clings to my skin and hair, wraps itself around me and then presses into my lungs.
The darkness comes next like an abyss that swallows all senses. Sound vanishes first, then time itself seems to stretch.
My thoughts scatter. I can’t see, can’t hear, can’t breathe properly. The air is sharp, prickly, foreign, as though it carries a poisonous charge. My chest tightens, my breaths come short and panicked.
My hands fly up, gripping his neck in desperation. He’s the only real thing in this void, the only thing tethering me to myself. Beneath my fingers, his skin is warm, his chest steady as it rises and falls.
“Kaelzar,” I whisper, my voice shaky and small. “I can’t… I can’t breathe….”
“Hold on,” he rumbles, his voice low and steady. Unshaken. As if this place belongs to him.
My heart thunders in my chest, and my magic writhes uneasily inside me, reacting to the foreign sensation of the shadows. I squeeze my eyes shut, focusing on the warmth of his arms, the strength in his grip. He feels unshakable, an anchor in the hailstorm.
Then, just as suddenly as it began, the oppressive weight lifts.
The prickly air dissolves, and I gasp, my lungs greedily drawing in the familiar, clean air. Dim light filters back into my vision, and the world reassembles itself in jagged, rocky shapes.
Kaelzar sets me down gently against the hard stone wall of a vast cavern. My legs feel like jelly and my mind spins, trying to make sense of my surroundings. Magic roils deep within me, agitated by my confusion.
“What... what just happened?” I stammer, my voice trembling.
Kaelzar says nothing. He melts back into the shadows, leaving me alone before I can gather my thoughts.
The disorientation ebbs slowly, but it leaves behind a hollow, stretched feeling, like my body has been unraveled and stitched back together wrong. The memory of the shadows lingers, an endless, suffocating expanse that feels both unnatural and alive.
Kaelzar emerges from the darkness moments later, carrying a large, bloodied wolf in his arms.
The creature’s jaw hangs at an unnatural angle, its labored breathing filling the cave with a heavy, pitiful sound.
“What is that?” I hiss, struggling to sit up despite the pain in my side.
Kaelzar places the wolf between us with a deliberate gentleness that belies his usual brusqueness.
“You didn’t want to take an innocent life,” he says, his voice steady but unyielding. “Then take the life of something already suffering.”
My mouth falls open. My gaze flicks to the wolf, its matted fur and broken body a portrait of agony. I slide back against the wall.
“We have to help it,” I whisper, my voice trembling.
Kaelzar’s sharp features harden. “It’s an old wolf,” he says, gesturing to its weathered coat. “Perhaps it was injured protecting its young, or by another predator. Its jaw is shattered. Its spine is broken. There’s no saving it. The only mercy left is to end its suffering.”
“Then why didn’tyouend it?” I snap, my eyes burning with unshed tears.
