(POV: Ava)
The next day passed in fragments.
We moved through forests thick with silence, broken only by the distant howls of things that should not have survived the fall of the world. Kael walked beside me, quieter than usual. Focused. But I could feel the change in him—like something inside had snapped back into place, or maybe broken for good.
And me?
I was still reeling from what I'd seen the night before.
My past life. My power.
Him.
We didn't speak of it. Not yet. But the weight of it lingered between us like smoke in our lungs—hard to breathe through but impossible to ignore.
***
By dusk, we found a ruined chapel nestled in a glade hidden beneath a collapsed mountain road. Ivy curled through its broken stained-glass windows. Moonlight spilled through the open roof, casting soft shadows on stone pews covered in moss and time.
It was quiet here. Peaceful.
Safe.
Kael stepped inside first, his boots crunching softly against the gravel and fallen leaves. I followed him, my pulse loud in my ears.
We didn't speak as we gathered old cloth from the altar and made a space to sleep. We didn't need to. Something unspoken crackled in the air—thick with tension, with heat, with everything we hadn't said.
He sat down near the shattered altar, back resting against a broken pillar, his hair falling over his eyes as he looked at me.
"Ava," he said finally, voice hoarse. "Do you still trust me?"
I nodded without hesitation. "Always."
He looked away. "You shouldn't. I'm… losing parts of myself I didn't think could be lost."
I walked to him slowly, knelt beside him. "Then I'll be your anchor."
Kael's jaw clenched, and his hand reached for mine. Our fingers laced. His skin was warm, calloused, trembling.
"You don't know what you're holding onto," he whispered.
"I don't care," I said. "You're worth holding onto."
That broke something in him.
His hand rose to cup my cheek, thumb brushing softly against my skin.
"I've never needed anything like I need you."
"Then take me," I breathed. "Before the world tears us apart."
***
The kiss that followed wasn't gentle.
It was raw. Breathless. Desperate.
His mouth crashed into mine like a storm finally unleashed. Every second of fear and longing and near-death poured out between us—tongues clashing, hands pulling, bodies trembling.
He pushed me back against the altar cloth, his weight pressing down on me as our breaths tangled and heat surged. My hands clawed into his shirt, pulling him closer, grounding myself in every inch of him.
"I don't want to break you," he said against my mouth.
"You won't," I gasped. "You already saved me."
His eyes burned into mine—red, glowing—but not monstrous. Not tonight.
Human.
His hands slid beneath my shirt, and I arched into his touch, fire racing through my veins. Every place he touched lit up with sensation, like my skin had been waiting for this—for him.
He kissed down my jaw, my neck, each press of his lips more reverent than the last. Worship and want and war blended into one overwhelming wave. My hands tangled in his hair, pulling him closer, needing him like air.
Clothes fell away in pieces.
He moved over me like a man unchained, but with care in every motion, every breath. We moved together—an aching rhythm that didn't belong to the world outside.
Only here.
Only now.
Only us.
And when he whispered my name against my skin, like it was both a prayer and a promise, I knew.
This wasn't just passion.
It was surrender.
***
After, we lay tangled in each other—limbs entwined, hearts still racing. His hand rested on my waist, fingers stroking slow circles into my skin. My head pressed to his chest, rising and falling with every breath.
There were no words for a while.
Only the sound of us.
"I was afraid to want this," Kael said softly into the silence.
"To want me?"
"To want anything good," he said. "Because good things don't last for people like me."
I looked up at him, brushing a damp strand of hair from his forehead. "Then let's be the thing that does last."
He smiled—barely. But it was real.
"I think I was made for you," he whispered.
I pressed my lips to his.
"No. We were made for each other."
And somewhere deep inside me, a second fire stirred.
Brighter. Older.
Awakening.
***
But before I could question it, Kael tensed beside me.
His body stiffened. His breath caught.
Then I heard it too.
A distant crunch of gravel outside the chapel.
Slow footsteps.
Not one.
Many.
He sat up, naked torso glistening in moonlight, eyes already blazing with alertness.
"They found us."
My heart jumped. "Hunters?"
"No," he said darkly. "Worse."
I pulled my clothes on in a rush, Kael already slipping his blade into the strap on his back.
The peace of the night vanished like smoke.
But something had changed.
We weren't just running anymore.
We had something worth fighting for.