Chapter 60

Chapter 60
Keal Pov

I hadn’t been afraid in years.
Not of blade, or flame, or the shadows of war that stalked me through every waking hour. Fear was for men who had something to lose. My fire had devoured everything long ago my kin, my name, my mercy. Until I met Evelyn.
And last night, in the dungeon, fear returned. I saw her standing in front of those chained spies, her small frame dwarfed by iron bars and the stench of blood. I felt the hum before she even spoke, the shift in the air like the world itself had held its breath. And when her voice fell quiet, trembling, yet threaded with something older than any god I watched hardened men break like glass before her.They didn’t fear me. They feared her.
Even now, hours later, the image of her eyes bright, too bright, as if lit from within haunted me. That power hadn’t belonged to Evelyn, the girl who fit against my side as if made for it, who blushed when I touched her throat, who trembled but never pulled away. No. That power belonged to something else. Something I did not yet understand. And I hated it.
Not her and never her but the truth of it. Because if I did not understand it, then neither did she. And if she could not control it, then it could be stolen, twisted, claimed. The Chain. Their name alone was enough to make my blood ignite. That they thought her theirs, that they dared to speak it aloud that they knew something about her I did not was intolerable. She was mine. My claim was the only truth I recognized, the only bond that mattered. Yet the memory of that second spy convulsing, foaming at the mouth until his body went limp, gnawed at me. Evelyn hadn’t meant to kill him I had seen the terror in her face when he fell silent but the fact remained: her power could reach into a man’s mind and tear it apart. And that power lived inside her, waiting.
Waiting for what? For whom?
The thought clawed at me, relentless, and with every hour that passed, my fire burned hotter, restless. I paced the length of my chamber, the air shimmering with the heat rolling off me. Outside, guards shifted nervously, no doubt praying my temper wouldn’t set the keep ablaze before dawn. They would obey me they always did but obedience wasn’t enough. Not now.
Not when Evelyn was vulnerable. Not when the world might already be reaching for her. I threw open the door. The guards snapped to attention, their fear thick in the air.
“Double the watch,” I snarled. “No one enters her chambers without my leave. No one looks at her without my command. Do you understand?”
They nodded frantically, fists to their chests. But it wasn’t enough. Nothing was enough.
I stalked down the corridor, flames licking at the stone walls in my wake. My generals stirred at my approach, bleary-eyed from sleep but too disciplined to show complaint. They gathered in the war room, maps spread wide, candles guttering in the heat I radiated.
Ashmoor The name of that cursed ruin seared in my mind like a brand.
“The Chain gathers there,” I said, voice sharp enough to cut. “Send scouts north. If they draw breath within a hundred miles of my borders, I want to know. If they whisper her name, I want to hear it before they do.”
They shifted uneasily, exchanging wary glances. None dared question me, not openly, but I caught the hesitation in their silence. They thought my obsession clouded me. They were right.
It did. And I did not care. When they filed out, I remained alone, gripping the edge of the map table until the wood blackened under my hand. What are you, Evelyn? The question burned hotter than any fire I could conjure. I had thought I knew her. The fragile girl who stumbled into my world, whose courage was quiet but unyielding, who met my flame and did not recoil. I had thought she was mine because I chose her, because my hunger demanded her.
But last night proved otherwise. She was not fragile. She was not small. She was something more, something vast. And that meant she was something I could lose. I could not allow it.
Not to the Chain. Not to fate. Not to the gods that had already taken everything else from me. I would burn kingdoms to ash before I let them touch her.I left the war room, the decision already made. My steps carried me not back to my own chambers, but to hers. The guards outside bowed low, their eyes fixed firmly on the ground. Good. None of them dared glance up as I pushed the door open and slipped inside. She was awake. Curled on the bed, hair spilling over the furs, but her eyes were open, glinting faintly in the firelight. She looked at me as if she knew I would come, as if she had been waiting.
“Kael,” she whispered, and my name in her mouth was softer than any prayer.
I crossed the room in three strides, kneeling beside the bed, my hand finding her cheek. Her skin was cool, fragile beneath my burning palm, and yet she leaned into me as if the fire soothed her.
“Are you afraid of me?” I asked.
Her brows furrowed, surprise flashing across her face. “No.”
“Then tell me the truth.” My thumb dragged over her jaw, pressing lightly against the delicate flutter of her pulse. “Are you afraid of yourself?”
Her breath hitched, and silence stretched between us. She didn’t answer. She didn’t need to. I already knew. My fire flared, fierce and possessive, wrapping her in warmth she could not escape. “You are mine, Evelyn,” I murmured, voice roughened by something darker than desire. “Whatever power stirs in your blood, whatever name they call you, it belongs to me. No chain will ever bind you but mine.”
Her eyes glistened, her lips parting as if to speak, but I didn’t let her. I kissed her instead hard, desperate, claiming. My fire roared, not to consume her, but to shield her from everything beyond these walls. Even from herself. Because I had seen it in her gaze, in the tremor of her hands. She would try to hide this from me, to bear the weight of it alone. She thought she could protect me, protect us, by burying the truth. But I would not allow it.
If she would not trust herself, then she would trust me. I would make certain of it.
And if the world thought they could take her if the Chain thought they could steal what was mine then I would burn Ashmoor, and every stone around it, until the earth itself remembered the taste of fire.
She was Evelyn.She was power.She was mine.And I would scorch eternity before letting her forget it.