He thought that bond had shattered forever. And yet now, sitting here across from him, was a woman he had already known, already touched, already shared moments with, and it felt… it felt right. It felt true. It felt more real than anything else had before.
He couldn’t speak. Words failed him as wave after wave of confusion, anger, hope, betrayal, and longing crashed over him, drowning him in their weight. He gripped the edge of the table as though it might anchor him to this reality, his mind spinning wildly.
Raya looked at him, stricken. Her face had gone pale, her breathing uneven, and yet beneath the fear in her eyes, there was something else, recognition. Truth.
The silence stretched thin between them, taut with tension, fragile as glass.
Kaius was the first to move. A breath esc
