He looked away, his jaw tightening. "You could have died, Evelyn. Do you have any idea what that means? What it would have done if" He stopped, his throat working, as if he'd said too much.
"If what?" I pressed. "If your fire touched me again?"
He said nothing.
"Look at me," I ordered. "Look at me and tell me what you're so afraid of."
His head lifted sharply, anger flashing in his eyes. "Afraid?" He almost laughed, but there was no fun in it. "You think fear is what keeps me away? I separate myself because I am dead, Evelyn. You're safer in silence than in my arms."
"Stop calling yourself that!" I said, my voice breaking. "You don't scare me, Kael. You only hurt yourself."
He moved toward me then suddenly, fierce, like a storm breaking free. "You don't know what I am!"
"Then tell me!"
"I killed her!" he roared.
The room fell still.
For a moment, even the air seemed to stop moving.
His voice trembled when he spoke again, lower this time. "The woman you saw in your reflection. Elara. She was mine. She tried to control the fire to make it love her the way I couldn't. It destroyed her. I destroyed her."
My heart twisted. "Kael…"
He shook his head fiercely. "Don't. Don't pity me. I don't deserve it."
"I'm not pitying you," I whispered. "I'm trying to understand the man who's terrified of being human."
His eyes snapped to mine. "You think that's what I am?"
"I think it's what you're trying not to be."
He took another step closer. His presence pressed against me heat and anger and something deep beneath it all.
"You're playing with something you can't handle," he warned.
"So are you," I said softly. "You fear yourself more than you fear losing me."
His eyes darkened. "You know nothing about loss."
"Then teach me," I challenged. "Stop hiding behind your curse and show me what it means to burn."
He moved faster than I could react. His hand caught my wrist, pulling me closer. His grip was strong but not cruel. For a heartbeat, his fire flickered beneath his skin and then, it happened.
Nothing.
No pain. No burning heat.
Only warmth.
We both froze. His eyes widened. "It doesn't burn," he whispered.
I stared at our joined hands, at the faint red glow moving between us. "Kael…"
He stumbled back, releasing me as if I'd turned to ash. His breathing quickened. "That's not possible."
"What's not?"
He shook his head, almost frightened. "My touch burns everything it touches. Everything. But you…" His gaze lifted to mine. "You resist it."
The shock in his voice worried me more than his rage ever had. He looked... human. Lost.
"Maybe it's because of the mark," I said quietly. "Maybe the bond protects me."
"No," he muttered, more to himself. "The mark binds you to me, not against me."
"Then why doesn't it hurt?"
He didn't answer. His eyes shot toward my chest where the sigil glowed faintly beneath the cloth. "It shouldn't be possible," he said again, almost begging.
"Maybe it's not about power," I said. "Maybe it's about trust."
He let out a sharp, bitter laugh. "Trust? You think that matters to an evil older than time?"
"I think it matters to you."
He went still.
I took a step forward. "Kael, listen to me. You keep saying you're doomed, that everything you touch turns to fire. But what if that's not the curse at all? What if the real curse is that you've stopped believing you can be touched without destroying everything?"
He stared at me like I had spoken a forbidden truth. His lips parted, but no words came.
"I'm not her," I said softly. "I'm not Elara. I won't hurt you. And I won't run."
He closed his eyes, his shoulders shaking. "You should."
"Why?"
"Because the fire always wants more. It takes. It devours. And now that you've touched it, it will come for you too."
"Then let it come," I said fiercely. "I'm not afraid of your fire."
"You should be."
"Maybe," I said, voice shaky but steady. "But maybe you're the one who's truly afraid that if I stay, I'll see the man behind the flames."
For a moment, neither of us moved. The stress between us was a living thing pulsing, shifting, burning gently in the space we shared.
He breathed slowly, as if trying to release a weight that wouldn't leave. "You don't know what you're doing to me," he said finally.
"I could say the same."
His gaze relaxed, and I saw something there I hadn't seen before, hunger. Fear. Regret.
"You should rest," he said after a long pause. "The mark will keep changing. The runes are rising faster than I expected."
"What does that mean?"
"It means you're running out of time."
My stomach tightened. "Time for what?"
"For choice."
He turned away before I could ask more. His hands clenched at his sides. "Go, Evelyn. Please."
"Kael"
"I said go."
The way he said it was low, raw, almost broken made me want to stay even more. But something in his eyes warned me.
Still, as I reached the door, I said quietly, "You don't scare me, Kael Dravaryn. Not your fire, not your curse, not even your silence."
When I looked back, he was watching me. And for the first time, I thought I saw something spark in his eyes that wasn't anger. It was something much more dangerous.
Desire.
That night, I couldn't sleep. The mark on my chest pulsed softly beneath my skin, glowing with faint warmth. I traced it with my fingers, wondering if it was alive.
Then a whisper.
Not a voice in my head this time. A sound, weak but real, coming from the glass across the room.
"Elara failed because she loved him," it said.
I sat up sharply. The mirror rippled like water.
"Who are you?" I asked.
The image smiled weakly. "A memory. A warning. A piece of the fire he cannot forget."
"What do you want from me?"
"To end what I began."
The image reached out from the glass, her hand ghostly and glowing. "He can't love you, Evelyn. Not without killing you."
I shook my head. "You're lying."
"Am I?" The reflection's smile faded. "The bond feeds on desire. The closer you are, the stronger the fire becomes. The last time he kissed me, the world burned."
My throat went dry.
"You're not real," I whispered.
"Neither is love," she said softly, "when it's built on fire."
I stumbled back from the mirror. My heartbeat thundered in my ears.
Then the door burst open.
Kael stood there, breathing hard, eyes burning gold. "You felt it too?"
"What"
"The mirror," he said sharply. "I'm not supposed to speak."
"It said your fire kills what you love," I whispered.
He froze. Then, quietly, he said, "It tells the truth."
I shook my head. "No. I don't believe that."
"Then you're a fool."
"Maybe I am," I said. "But I'd rather be a fool who loves than a king who burns alone."
His face broke then just for a second as if those words had cut through every wall he'd built.
He stepped closer, his hand hanging near my face but never touching. His breath was warm against my skin.
"Evelyn," he whispered, voice shaking. "Don't make me want what I can't have."
"Then stop pretending you don't."