Page 37 of Elemental Becoming

Something sharp twists in my chest. “And Rowena?”

His eyes dim.

For a moment he doesn’t answer.

Instead, he reaches for me.

His hand slides down my arm until his fingers find mine. He leans back against the railing, the city at his back, his attention fixed on me.

I shift with him, resting against the stone across from him. The wind slips between us, cool against my skin, but his warmth lingers where our hands remain joined. I pull my robe tighter around me with my free hand.

“She didn’t break,” he says finally, his voice quieter now, rougher. “Not the way my mother did. Not the way my father did.”

“But she grieved,” I offer.

“Yes, she did. But in a different way.”

The words sound like a truth he’s only ever admitted to himself.

I squeeze his hand, letting him know I’m listening. That I won’t look away.

“She didn’t let it take her,” he murmurs, gaze unfocused, caught in the past. “Rowena was always fierce. The fastest in the training yard. The one who never let anyone see her lose.”

I can picture her, the way she moves even now. Like a blade, sharp and purposeful. Wasting nothing, least of all emotion.

“But before Kastiel died, she laughed more. She was still ruthless, but . . . lighter. There was joy in all she did. In battle. In winning. In being the best. She used to taunt him—call him a stiff-assed perfectionist.”

His lips twitch faintly, like he can still hear her teasing words.

“And he’d let her,” he adds quietly. “He let our sister get away with almost anything.”

“And after?” I ask gently.

Thane’s jaw ticks.

“She didn’t cry at his funeral. Rowena became the rock we all leaned on.” He shakes his head. “She’s so small, and somehow she held all of us up.”

My heart plummets.

“She didn’t stop fighting. Didn’t stop training.” He shakes his head. “Her laugh wasn’t as loud or as often, but she was stillRowena. Still throwing jabs, still standing too close to fire like she was daring it to burn her.”

Rowena held on to herself—to her fire, to that reckless kind of joy that burns bright even in the darkest moments.

But Thane didn’t.

He disappeared into duty, war, and the weight of what he had to become. And now, standing here beside him, hearing the way he speaks about his family, in the place where he grew up, I see it clearly.

“What was your mother like?” I ask, softer now.

He breathes deeply, like the memory hurts to recall.

“My mother was kind.” His voice is softer than I’ve ever heard it. “And fierce. And sometimes impossible. She sparred with us, even against my father. He was the best swordsman I’ve ever seen, and she still made him work for it. She was fast and relentless.”

His gaze drifts to the city below, where torchlight traces the winding streets.

“That’s where Rowena gets it. Her fire.”

He pauses, exhaling. “And when Kastiel died, I thought she’d fight off the curse. That she’d pull herself back together.”