Chapter 29 His he for me or against me

Chapter 29 His he for me or against me
Lyra

The first time I realized Kael could be cruel was the moment he refused to comfort me.

Not when I was shaking.

Not when my voice broke.

Not even when I looked at him like he was the only thing keeping me from falling apart.

He just… watched.

Measured.

Like whatever I felt didn’t matter as much as what I was.

“You’re not safe here anymore.”

That was all he said.

No softness. No reassurance. Just a decision already made.

And somehow, that hurt more than the fear.

“What does that even mean?” I asked, my voice unsteady as I stood from the bed. My legs still felt weak, like they didn’t belong to me, but I forced them to hold my weight anyway.

Kael didn’t answer immediately. His gaze swept the room again, slower this time, like he was memorizing every detail, calculating something I couldn’t see.

Then he looked at me.

“Can you walk?”

The question hit wrong.

Not are you okay.

Not are you hurt.

Just—

Can you still function?

My chest tightened, but I nodded anyway. “Yes.”

“Good,” he said. “Then we leave now.”

A sharp knock cut through the room before I could respond.

Kael’s expression didn’t change, but something in his posture did. It hardened, like a wall snapping into place.

“Who is it?” he asked.

“Lucien.”

The name made something shift in the air.

Kael crossed the room and opened the door just enough to step into the hallway, blocking most of my view, but I could still hear everything.

“The barrier is weakening,” Lucien said without preamble.

My stomach dropped.

Kael’s voice lowered. “Explain.”

“It started at the outer edges, but it’s spreading inward. The markings are destabilizing faster than we can reinforce them.”

“External breach?”

“No,” Lucien replied. “That’s the problem. It’s coming from inside.”

Kael didn’t speak for a moment, and I realized something that made my chest tighten even more.

He already knew.

Or at least—

He suspected.

“She’s the center of it, isn’t she?” Lucien added, quieter now.

“No,” Kael said immediately.

But it didn’t sound like a denial.

It sounded like a refusal.

I stepped closer to the door before I could stop myself. “I didn’t do anything,” I said, my voice cutting into the conversation.

Both of them looked at me.

Lucien’s gaze was sharp, searching, like he was trying to peel something open and see what was underneath.

“That doesn’t mean you’re not connected to it,” he said.

“I’m not some kind of—”

“Enough,” Kael cut in, his voice cold.

The word didn’t just stop me.

It shut me down.

The air between us shifted, and for a second, I hated him for it.

For the way he didn’t defend me.

For the way he didn’t even try to make it easier.

“We’re wasting time,” Kael continued, already turning away from the argument. “I’m taking her below.”

Lucien’s expression changed instantly. “That’s not an option.”

“It is now.”

“You know what’s sealed down there.”

“And you know what’s happening up here,” Kael shot back. “Pick your risk.”

Silence stretched between them again.

Then—

“Fine,” Lucien said. “But if this goes wrong—”

“It won’t,” Kael replied.

The certainty in his voice wasn’t comforting.

It was absolute.

Final.

He turned back to me, and before I could say anything else, he grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door.

His grip wasn’t gentle.

But it wasn’t careless either.

It was controlled.

Like everything else about him.

“Come on.”

I followed.

Because what else was I supposed to do?

The corridor felt different now.

Not just quiet but wrong.

The air carried a weight I hadn’t noticed before, like something invisible had settled into the walls. The lights flickered faintly as we passed, and the further we went, the colder it became.

“Kael,” I said, trying to keep up with his pace. “You need to tell me what’s happening.”

“I already did.”

“No, you didn’t,” I snapped. “You told me to move. That’s not the same thing.”

He didn’t slow down.

“Then ask better questions.”

My chest tightened. “Fine. What am I?”

That made him stop.

Just for a second but it was enough.

He looked at me then, really looked, and something in his eyes shifted, something darker, something that felt too close to the truth.

But he didn’t say it.

Instead—

“You’re a problem,” he said.

The words hit harder than they should have.

I pulled my hand slightly, but he didn’t let go.

“A problem?” I repeated, my voice quieter now.

“A dangerous one.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the only one that matters right now.”

I stared at him, anger rising through the fear. “You think that’s supposed to make me feel better?”

“I don’t care how it makes you feel.”

That—

That hurt.

More than it should have.

More than anything else had so far.

For a second, I couldn’t even speak.

Because there it was.

The truth.

He wasn’t protecting me because he cared.

He was protecting me because I mattered.

And those were not the same thing.

We reached the end of the corridor.

A large metal door stood in front of us, older than anything else in the academy, its surface covered in deep, carved markings that looked nothing like the ones upstairs.

These weren’t careful.

They weren’t precise.

They were aggressive.

Layered.

Like something had been sealed over and over again, just to be sure.

I felt it before he touched the door.

That pull, stronger than before like something beneath the ground had just noticed me.

“Do you feel that?” I whispered.

“Yes.”

“Then why are we going there?”

“Because it’s the only place they can’t follow.”

“How do you know that?”

He didn’t answer.

That was answer enough.

My stomach twisted. “Kael…”

He placed his hand against the door.

The markings flared instantly.

The sound that followed wasn’t loud, but it was heavy, like metal grinding against something that didn’t want to move.

The door began to open like it had been shut for a reason.

Cold air rushed out from the other side, thick and suffocating, carrying a scent I couldn’t place but instantly hated.

Not blood.

Not decay.

Something older.

Something buried.

I took a step back without thinking.

“Kael… wait.”

He didn’t.

Of course he didn’t.

The gap widened, darkness spilling out like it had weight, like it was alive in a way the light wasn’t.

I couldn’t see anything inside.

Not the floor.

Not the walls.

Nothing.

Just black.

My heart started pounding faster. “What’s down there?”

Kael finally looked at me again.

And this time—

There was no hesitation.

“No one goes down there,” he said.

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the truth.”

A cold fear settled deep in my chest.

“Then why are we going?”

His grip on my hand tightened slightly.

“Because,” he said quietly, “I’d rather face what’s buried…”

He pulled me forward.

“…than what’s coming for you.”

And before I could stop him—

Before I could even decide if I wanted to go—

He dragged me into the darkness.

The door slammed shut behind us.

And for the first time since all of this started—

I realized something worse than fear.

I had no idea if Kael was saving me…

Or choosing the faster way to lose me.