Chapter 8 -Caylix-
\-Caylix-
“If you value your hand,” I say quietly, “you should remove it from me.”
My voice is level, my body is still. Her palm rests against my chest, and everything in me is already pushing against it, against her, against whatever she is, against the way her magic has been crawling over me since before she ever stepped close. I felt it the moment it touched me. The kind of thing most would never notice. But I did. The second pass had been slower, more intentional. She wasn’t approaching me, she was studying me. So I let her. I need to understand what she is before I remove her.
Her magic moves strangely. It doesn’t strike. It traces. It presses along the edges of me like it’s trying to find where I break. I don’t react. Not yet. Because I’m watching what matters. The way her magic shifts, the way it stops circling and starts reaching. Not into me, but past me. And then, a sharp, unexpected pull through the tether.
Avi.
It hits like a fracture beneath my ribs. It’s not pain, not fear. Jealousy. Raw. Unfiltered. Unhidden.
He’s letting her touch him.
The thought isn’t meant for me. It slips, unguarded, carried straight across the bond before she can stop it. My jaw tightens. Of all the things I expected to feel from her right now, it wasn’t that. Another flicker, sharper this time.
Why isn’t he stopping her?
Something low and dangerous stirs in my chest, not at her, but at the situation, at this woman, at the fact that Avi is standing there trying to make sense of something she should never have to question.
Look at me, Avi.
I don’t move. I don’t speak. But the command is there, steady, insistent, threaded through the bond whether she means to hear it or not.
Look at me.
For a moment, she doesn’t. I can feel her resisting it, trying to lock herself down, trying to pretend I can’t hear what slipped through. Then slowly, she lifts her gaze. And it nearly destroys me.
Those eyes.
Open. Uncertain. Just a flicker of something vulnerable beneath the composure she’s fighting to hold. She should never have to doubt me. Not like this. Not ever. I would never put her in danger. Never lose focus. Never turn my attention from her to something as insignificant as this.
She knows that.
I hold her gaze, steadying myself before I let anything show, forcing every ounce of that rising violence back under control. Then, just enough, I shake my head. Small. Controlled. Certain. There is nothing to fear. You are where my focus begins and ends, Avi. Feel that. And I don’t break eye contact until I feel it, her tension easing, just slightly, the sharp edge of that jealousy softening into something steadier.
Only then do I allow my attention to shift back to the woman. Because now I know exactly what she’s trying to find. And she’s not the only one watching anymore. She’s on my radar now. Big mistake on her part.
“I will not say it again. Remove. Your. Hand. Now. Or, I will remove it for you.
For another second, she still doesn’t. I feel it, her hesitation, her curiosity. The calculation of whether she can push further. My body shifts before I consciously decide to move. Barely. But enough. And she knows it. Her hand disappears and her magic pulls back with it, not retreating entirely, but tightening, reorganizing. Testing again from a distance. I turn away from her without another word. I’ve seen enough. Whatever she is, she is not harmless. And she was looking for something that she doesn’t get to touch.
I reach Avi in seconds. She is exactly where I told her to stay. That trust is not something I take lightly.
“We’re leaving,” I say. “Now.”
There’s no room in my tone. She moves immediately. And something in my chest settles even as everything else sharpens further. Rhydon falls into step beside her as we move, speaking as though nothing has shifted, as though he belongs in this space. He doesn’t. He walks among her people like they are something to observe, not people to understand. There is distance in him that he doesn’t even try to hide. He believes it is strength. It isn’t. It is weakness dressed as control.
A ruler who cannot stand among his people without separating himself from them is not a ruler they will follow. He will be obeyed, sure, but he will never be chosen. Charlotte, however, watches him like she’s already made a different decision.
Avi moves through the same space as if she was made for it.
She lowers herself without diminishing. Speaks without forcing. She lets them see her without fear of what that might cost. And in doing so, she becomes something far more powerful than he will ever understand. Something they will follow willingly.
A true Queen.
The word settles in my mind with quiet certainty. If anything threatens her, I will remove it. It’s as simple as that. By the time we reach the palace, my course is already set. I do not leave her until she is inside. Until she is surrounded. Until every possible threat has been accounted for. Only then do I step back.
“I’ll return shortly,” I say.
I turn before she can respond. I head towards the King’s lounge room. King Alexander looks at me once as I enter.
“What happened?”
“There was a woman in the market,” I say. “She approached me.”
“And?”
“I couldn’t identify what she is.”
That gets his full attention.
“She used magic,” I continue, “not openly. It…observed. Tested. Moved around me instead of against me.”
He doesn’t interrupt.
“She was trying to understand me,” I add. “And what I’m connected to.”
A pause.
“Do you believe she’s connected to the man from yesterday?” he asks.
“Yes. I have no doubt about it. The feeling is the same. Different method, but the same intent.”
Alexander studies me. Then nods. “Find out what she is.”
I incline my head. But before I turn, his voice stops me.
“Caylix.”
I pause.
“Do not speak of this to Avianna.”
My focus sharpens.
“She will sense something is wrong,” I say.
“That does not mean she needs to understand it,” he replies, calm, certain. “She is days from securing an alliance that will decide the stability of both our kingdoms. Her focus cannot fracture now.”
My jaw tightens slightly.
“She was reaching for the bond,” I say, lower. “If that woman felt it…”
“She may have,” Alexander cuts in. “Or she may just felt you. Either way, speculation does not serve us.”
His gaze holds mine, steady and immovable.
“You will investigate,” he continues. “Quietly. And until we know what we are dealing with, Avianna is told nothing.”
Not a suggestion. It’s an order. Silence settles between us. We both understand. If anyone discovers what binds me to her, it becomes something they can use against her.
“Understood,” I say.
Alexander gives a single nod, already turning back to the room. “Then go.”