Page 140 of Mortis

An idea had started forming.

Maybe Kael didn’t need to prove that he could go back there alone.

Maybe he just needed to know that if he went back, he wouldn’t be alone.

“What if I came with you?”

Kael and I stood hand in hand at the edge of Barrowfell Woods. He was stiffer than a cardboard cutout, every muscle locked and his jaw clenched tight. He stared into the trees like they might come alive and drag him back between them. Like some part of him was already preparing to bolt in the opposite direction.

I squeezed his hand. “You ready?”

Kael didn’t answer. He inhaled slowly through his nose, held it for a few seconds, then released it in one long, steady breath.

Finally, he gave me a clipped nod.

“Off we go, then,” I said.

I took a few steps forward and stopped. My arm was stretched out behind me, Kael’s hand still tightly wrapped around mine. I glanced over my shoulder, but he hadn’t moved. His feet remained firmly planted on the concrete path, his gaze fixed on the treeline. His brow had furrowed deeply, and his lips were pressed into that familiar thin line.

“Kael.” His eyes flicked towards me and I smiled. “You coming?”

Another breath, this one shakier. The tips of his shoes were inches from the forest floor. I didn’t pull him. Didn’t rush him. I simply rubbed my thumb over his knuckles and waited.

“You’re okay,” I murmured.

Kael swallowed, then stepped off the path.

Nothing happened. The world didn’t collapse around us. The ground didn’t swallow him whole. There were no chains waiting to drag him back into his old life.

Just trees, and me.

We continued walking. For the first few minutes, Kael’s hand remained almost painfully tight around mine. Every rustle of leaves made his head turn. Every snapping twig had his shoulders stiffening. But gradually, his grip loosened, and the edge of the woods disappeared behind us. Soon, I couldn’t see Blackthorn anymore. Couldn’t hear the distant hum of traffic or the voices of people passing by. There was only the whisper of leaves overhead. Birdsong. The occasional crunch of our footsteps against the forest floor.

When I decided we’d gone far enough, I stopped. Turning to face him, I reached up, cradling his face between my hands. His cheeks were warm beneath my palms, and the muscles in his jaw bunched as he ground his teeth. I smiled, then rose onto my tiptoes. Kael followed my lead, bending until his forehead rested against mine. His hands settled instinctively on my hips.

“You’re in the woods, big guy.” His eyes searched mine. “And guess what?” I pressed a soft kiss to his lips, then leaned back just enough to look at him. “I’m still here.”

Something in his expression broke, but not in a bad way. The tension that had followed him beneath the trees finally cracked, his shoulders dropping as a hoarse laugh escaped him. He gripped my hips and pulled me closer until I was plastered against his chest. One hand slid into my hair while the other wrapped around my back, holding me like he needed the physical proof that I really was there.

“I love you so much, my treasure.”

My cheeks hurt from how hard I smiled.

“I love you too, Kael.”

Using his grip on my hair, he tilted my head and sealed our lips together. Just like every time we kissed, it was perfect. Our lips moved together easily, giving as much as we took. When his human tongue brushed my top lip, I whimpered, heat immediately pooling low in my stomach.

I broke the kiss with a gasp and stared up at him, slightly dazed. His pupils were blown wide, leaving only a thin maroon ring around them. Kael was stunning as a human. But standing here, surrounded by the place that had once been his entire world, his human face suddenly seemed wrong. Too normal.

I wanted all of him.

The real him.

“You don’t have to hide in here,” I breathed, licking my lips. “Show yourself, demon.”

Kael went very still, then his mouth curled at one corner. A low growl vibrated through his chest, reminding me that the creature beneath his borrowed human skin was never far away. Black smoke spilled around his body. It curled around his legs, swallowed his torso, and climbed towards his face until I couldn’t see him at all.

Then it vanished, and there he was.