Virelya hadn’t even realized she had been walking or where she was really going until the crisp cold air bit at her cheeks. She stood against the stone wall in the tower, hands gripping the stones hard enough to cause pain. The vise in her chest hadn’t loosened. She stared out into the darkness and could see the treetops of the forest beyond the city and gulped down cold air that burned her throat and lungs.

  She had stood in this tower so many times. After assignments, after difficult training, when sleep evaded her and the walls of the keep felt like they were closing in, staring into the open darkness of the forest canopy. Normally it brought her peace, helped slow her breathing, her racing thoughts. But tonight, it seemed like the forest was staring back, tempting her. It didn’t belong to him.

  The rune tightened the instant the thought crossed her mind.

  A warning.

  She forced the thought from her mind, trying not to let her thoughts wander again. She tightened her grip on the stones in front of her, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath through her nose. She glanced down at her wrist and the rune that lay there. The lines still made the same intricate knot. She wasn’t sure what she thought would have changed.

  Below her, a door closed, echoing off the stones of the keep with a hollow sound.

  Her body reacted on instinct.

  Stillness.

  Waiting.

  Listening.

  The rune warmed in approval.

  She hated it. The thought hit her so suddenly.

  She waited for the pain.

  The rune was quiet.

  She hated that too. That her body reacted so violently with fear.

  The wind whipped around her, pulling curls free from around her face like it was trying to pull her forward.

  She loosened her grip on the stones.

  Footsteps sounded on the staircase behind her. Soft and careful.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  She hated that she was so conditioned she already knew they belonged to Kaida.

  Kaida stopped a few steps below the landing.

  Virelya didn’t turn. She didn’t need to. She could feel the girl’s eyes run over her like heat.

  “You come up here often,” Kaida said softly.

  It wasn’t a question. It was an observation.

  Virelya kept her eyes on the forest ahead, watching the trees bend in the storm.

  “Yes.”

  Virelya almost didn’t recognize the voice that came out of her.

  Silence stretched between them, the wind filling in the space where Virelya should have been providing words.

  Kaida stepped up beside her.

  “I felt it…” she said, and Virelya felt her stomach tighten.

  “The rune,” Kaida continued, “I felt it warm when I came up here…” she lifted her arm slightly, “like his hand was still there.”

  Virelya finally turned her gaze from the darkness to look at the girl beside her.

  Kaida held her arm cradled in her other hand. Her green eyes were brighter than they had ever shone.

  Not with fear.

  With wonder.

  Virelya recognized the look.

  She had worn the same one once.

  “It means you belong now.”

  The words fell flatter than Virelya had intended. She didn’t want to crush the girl entirely.

  Kaida didn’t notice. She smiled up at Virelya.

  “I know. He chose me.”

  Her voice was barely loud enough to hear over the howling wind.

  Virelya’s jaw tightened.

  “Yes.”

  Kaida’s brows knitted together slightly.

  “He chose you too. He saved us.”

  Virelya didn’t answer.

  She felt the place in her chest where her heart sat squeeze.

  She had wanted so badly to be chosen then.

  Now she wondered just what it cost her.

  Kaida shifted beside her, stepping closer until their shoulders were almost touching. Virelya could feel the heat from the girl through her cloak.

  So trusting.

  So unaware.

  “Does it ever stop?” Kaida asked.

  Virelya’s brow furrowed.

  “What?”

  “The warmth,” Kaida said, looking down at the fresh black ink that marked her unscarred arm. She ran her finger gently over the lines in awe. “It just feels like he’s right here with me.”

  Virelya didn’t answer immediately.

  She remembered.

  Gods, she remembered.

  The sleepless nights staring at the tattoo on her own wrist. The comfort the warmth had brought. That she wasn’t alone. The gratitude she had whispered like prayers.

  “It becomes quieter.”

  Not a lie.

  Not the whole truth.

  Kaida leaned further onto the stone railing, into the storm.

  “I just don’t feel alone anymore.”

  The words came out of Kaida and sounded like relief.

  They landed like a blow to Virelya’s chest, hitting something buried and fragile. Something she had so wanted to believe, to live in. To not feel alone.

  The wind howled louder around them, whipping strands of Kaida’s braid free.

  Virelya could see herself there.

  Younger.

  Happy.

  Gods, she wanted to feel that again.

  Kaida straightened suddenly and her green eyes met Virelya’s.

  “He cares about you.”

  Her voice was certain.

  “I can feel it.”

  Virelya felt the rune at her wrist warm, spreading up her arm like a soft hand. She felt her throat tighten and didn’t trust herself to speak.

  She shifted her gaze back to the forest.

  Felt the fear rise in her chest at the possessiveness she felt in the rune.

  She wondered if it had always been fear she had felt.

  Somewhere in the keep beneath them, a door closed.

  The rune tightened.

  He was watching.

  He was always watching.