Chapter 31: Another Kael
Lyra
I didn’t step back....not immediately.
That was the strange part.
Even after everything he said, even after the truth settled into my chest like something sharp and permanent, my body didn’t react the way it should have. I didn’t run. I didn’t scream. I just stood there, staring at him like if I looked long enough, he might take it back.
He didn’t.
Of course he didn’t.
“You knew,” I said quietly, my voice steadier than the chaos inside me. “From the beginning… you knew what I was to you.”
Kael didn’t flinch. “I knew what you could do.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“No,” he agreed. “It’s not.”
The honesty should have meant something.
It didn’t. It only made it worse.
A hollow feeling spread through my chest, slow and suffocating, like something inside me was collapsing in on itself. I swallowed hard, forcing myself to breathe through it.
“You let me trust you,” I said, my voice tightening despite my effort to keep it level. “You stood there and let me believe I was safe with you.”
“You are safe with me.”
The words snapped something in me.
I laughed.
Not because it was funny, but because it was the only thing that kept me from breaking apart right there.
“Safe?” I repeated, my voice sharp now. “You brought me into a place you just admitted was filled with things that shouldn’t exist, and you’re telling me I’m safe?”
“Yes.”
“How?” I demanded.
His gaze didn’t waver. “Because I’m the only one here who hasn’t decided to take from you yet.”
The words hit harder than anything else.
My breath caught.
“Yet?” I whispered.
Silence. That was my answer.
Something shifted behind him.
Elias stepped forward slightly, his presence calm in a way that felt unnatural, like he had already accepted everything Kael had just said.
“She learns quickly,” he murmured.
“I’m not part of this,” I snapped, my voice breaking through whatever detached calm I had been clinging to. “Whatever you think this is, I’m not staying here so you can—”
“You don’t have a choice.”
Kael’s voice cut through mine.
Cold. Final.
I turned to him slowly. “Don’t say that to me.”
“It’s the truth.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “That’s control. That’s you deciding what happens to me like I’m not even—”
“Like you’re not what?” he interrupted.
The question hung there.
Sharp. Uncomfortable.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
Because I didn’t know what I was.
And he knew it.
His gaze softened just slightly, but it didn’t make it better. “You think walking away changes anything?” he asked quietly. “You think whatever came for you upstairs just disappears if you leave this room?”
“No,” I admitted.
“Then listen to me.”
I didn’t want to. But I did.
“Whatever is tied to you,” he continued, his voice steady now, more controlled, “it’s growing. Faster than we expected. Faster than we can contain.”
“And your solution is to use me,” I said.
“My solution is to survive.”
The bluntness of it landed like a blow.
Silas pushed himself off the wall with a quiet sigh, his eyes flicking between us like he was watching something entertaining. “You’re both missing the point,” he said casually. “This isn’t about survival anymore. It’s about timing.”
“Don’t,” Kael warned.
Silas ignored him. “Whatever is inside him,” he continued, nodding toward Kael, “isn’t just feeding. It’s changing.”
My stomach twisted.
“What does that mean?” I asked, my voice quieter now.
Mara answered this time.
“It means,” she said softly, stepping closer into the dim light, “that if he doesn’t stabilize it soon… it won’t be him anymore.”
The words settled heavily.
I looked back at Kael.
For the first time, I really saw it.
Not the control.
Not the calm.
Something underneath. Something restrained.
Barely.
“How long?” I asked.
He didn’t answer.
“How long, Kael?” I pressed.
His jaw tightened slightly.
“Not long.”
That wasn’t enough.
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting.”
Frustration flared, sharp and immediate. “You don’t get to decide what I deserve to know!”
“No,” he said quietly. “But I do get to decide what happens next.”
The air shifted.
“And what happens next?” I asked, my voice almost a whisper now.
His gaze held mine.
“We try.”
“Try what?”
“To control it.”
My chest tightened. “And if you can’t?”
Silence.
Elias smiled faintly.
“Then we find out which one of them wins,” he said.
A chill ran down my spine.
“Which one?” I asked, my voice barely there.
His eyes flicked to Kael.
Then back to me.
“The thing inside him,” Elias said softly.
“And the thing inside you.”
The room went completely still.
My heart stuttered.
“No,” I whispered, shaking my head instinctively. “There’s nothing inside me.”
But even as I said it—
I felt it.
That same pull.
That same pressure beneath my skin.
Waiting.
Listening.
Awake.
Kael saw it.
I knew he did.
Because his expression changed.
Not much.
But enough.
“Lyra…”
My name sounded different when he said it now.
“Stay where you are,” he added.
“Why?” I asked, panic rising again.
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he stepped back.
Away from me.
That was when I realized something was wrong.
“Kael?”
His shoulders tensed.
His hands curled slightly at his sides.
And then—
He inhaled.
Sharp.
Like it hurt.
A low sound followed.
Not quite a growl. Not quite human.
My heart dropped.
“Kael… what’s happening?”
He didn’t respond.
His head lowered slightly, his breathing uneven now, controlled but slipping, like something was pushing against him from the inside.
“Step back,” Mara said quietly.
I didn’t move.
I couldn’t. Because I was watching him.
Watching the way his control cracked.
Piece by piece.
“Kael,” I said again, softer now, fear creeping into every word. “Loo
k at me.”
Slowly—
He did.
And for a second—
Just one—
He wasn’t there.
Something else looked back at me.
Something darker.
Something hungry.
My breath caught.
“Too late,” Silas murmured.
Kael’s lips parted slightly.
And when he spoke—
His voice wasn’t entirely his anymore.
“Run.”