Kael’s presence flickers in the back of my mind—distant but there, like a heartbeat echoing in my own chest. Strong. Reassuring. God help me, I’m really starting to like this Glowranth thing. And yes, I’ve already considered what it’ll feel like to start touching myself when I’m alone just to see if he reacts while he’s on duty.
Life might be chaotic, but I fully intend to have some fun with it.
The journey from the canteen to the bowling alley passes in a blur of shifting stone and the low thrum of life in the settlement. I keep my head down, barely nodding at the handful of Riftborn who cross my path, my mind spinning with everything Decca and Molsi told me.
But as I near the edge of the training quarter, Jack and Solan fall into step beside me like it was planned.
“Morning,” Jack says, eyes bright despite the tension behind them.
“You look well-rested,” Solan adds, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He might be a Pyronox enforcer-turned-rebel, but his humour still catches me off-guard.
“Not sure if it counts as rest when half of it involved a giant, glowing guard and a mattress that didn’t survive,” I reply, grinning.
Jack barks a laugh, and Solan chuckles low in his throat. “Noted.”
Together, we slip through the entrance of the bowling alley. Inside, the repurposed lanes are quiet for once. No distant sound of pins being scattered from the one almost-intact lane, noshouted commands from trainers or the grunts of sparring. Just an eerie stillness that sinks into my bones.
Varek is already waiting.
He sits at the head of the oversized table at the back of the room, the one built from salvaged doors and reinforced panels. Shanae is beside him, ever stoic, her stance protective but calm. Her dark gaze flicks over me with a sharp once-over that doesn’t feel unkind.
Kael is already here, and my chest flutters. The moment our eyes meet, a warmth spreads through me, low and deep. My pulse skips, then steadies under his gaze. He looks tired—hell, more than tired—but the flicker of relief in his eyes when he sees me nearly drops me to my knees.
I want to run to him, to wrap my arms around his solid frame and bury my face against his chest. Instead, I manage a small smile, one I know he feels through our bond.
Varek gestures for us to sit.
The table’s surface is covered with maps, printouts, and a smattering of reports. There’s no one else here. No hunting party, no officers, no gawkers. That alone is telling. Varek took my request seriously. He tookmeseriously.
“Thank you for coming,” Varek says, voice calm, deliberate. “Let’s get started.”
We sit, Kael sliding into the seat beside me. His knee bumps mine, a silent reassurance. I glance towards Shanae, who gives me the barest nod. Then I exhale and look at Jack.
Time to talk about what we know—and what it could mean for all of us.
Jack clears his throat as we all settle around the table, his fingers drumming lightly on the scratched surface. “Thanks for giving us the time,” he says, gaze flicking between Varek, Shanae, and Kael. “What we want to talk about might sound far-fetched at first, but… we’ve seen too much to ignore it.”
Varek leans forwards, those silver eyes glowing faintly. “Go on.”
Solan takes over, his voice measured. “We’ve been tracking rift patterns after what you shared. And what we’ve found—what Sonny uncovered before he left—it suggests there’s a possibility these rifts aren’t natural. That they’re being… manipulated. Created.”
Kael visibly stiffens. His reaction isn’t the disbelief I expect. It’s deeper. Sharper. Like something old and painful has just cracked open. I feel it ripple through the bond like a shadow I wasn’t ready for.
I glance at him, frowning. “You don’t doubt it.”
He doesn’t speak right away. His jaw clenches, and his eyes meet mine, stormy and raw. There’s guilt there. Thick. Heavy. “I do not,” he says at last.
I tilt my head, wondering at his emotions.
His throat works like the words are fighting him. “If someone brought you here—deliberately—becauseyou’re my mate….” His voice trails off, but the bond pulses with everything he can’t say.
“You’re wondering what that makes you,” I murmur. “That I was here for over two years, and you didn’t come.”
Kael flinches. His emotions surge, too tangled to separate—shame, self-loathing, fear. He swallows hard, the weight of it choking him. I reach for him, not physically, but through the bond. Letting him feel the steadiness inside me. The forgiveness I’ve already given. It settles him. Not completely, but enough.
Solan gives a small, knowing nod. “Then maybe the real question is why now. Why are the bonds beginning again? Why all of a sudden are mates being drawn together after so long in this dimension? And why are they pulling together different species to do so?”
Shanae, quiet until now, studies us both. Her gaze sharpens. “You bonded?”
