Wren never expected her life to change the moment she set foot in the Riders Quadrant at Basgiath War College. But everything shifted when she met Liam Mairi. Loving him was effortless, bright, and full of promise. Losing him was shattering.
His dea...
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I spent the better part of the evening crying in Liam's arms. I don't even know why the sobs hit so hard, or why they wouldn't stop. Maybe I still don't.
What I do know is this: there was something inside Jack Barlowe that wasn't human. Something beneath his signet that was unnatural evil. When I touched him, it skittered under my skin like a nest of insects, latching on, whispering, daring me to become something I'm not. It twisted my emotions into a rage so raw, so alien, I didn't recognize myself.
For a terrifying heartbeat I almost lost a piece of my soul. If Ryuu's voice hadn't pierced through, if Liam hadn't screamed and broken the haze, I would have killed him. And if I had, if I'd crossed that line, there would've been no coming back.
The aftertaste of Jack's power still lingered, foul and clinging. It felt violating, like filth ground into my bones.
"I'm terrified," I whispered into the dark of my bedroom. My voice sounded small, even to me.
Liam shifted beneath me, his hand cupping my tear-streaked cheek with steady warmth. "What happened?" His tone was soft, careful, exactly what I needed.
I swallowed, words tangling at the back of my throat. Should I tell him? About my signet. About what I really am.
He deserved the truth. Maybe then he'd understand why I faltered in training, why I sometimes seemed like I was drowning in other people's emotions. Maybe it would stop the questions in his eyes, the ones that always made me feel like I'd been stripped down to bone.
But the risk...
If I said it out loud, if he knew, he'd never look at me the same. He wouldn't see Wren Blackwell, reckless rider, the one who makes him laugh and drives him mad. He'd see the other thing. The dangerous thing. The mimicry I couldn't always control.
A weapon disguised as a girl.
His thumb brushed over the grain of the table, steady as his voice when he finally broke the silence. "You went quiet on me again."
I managed a shrug. "Thinking."
"Dangerous habit." His mouth quirked, but there was no humor in his eyes, only patience, like he was willing to sit here all night if it meant I'd talk.
And maybe that was why I hated myself for hesitating. For wanting to trust him. Because somewhere between sparring matches, late-night study halls, and his damned wood carvings, Liam Mairi had slipped past the walls I'd sworn no one would ever breach.
And the most unsettling part wasn't that he was inside them. It was that I wasn't scrambling to push him back out.
He leaned closer, elbows braced on his knees, voice low enough it almost sounded like a vow. "Whatever it is, you don't have to carry it alone."
The air thickened between us, pressing against my ribs. I wanted—gods, I wanted—to believe him. To hand over this secret like it wasn't poison. To see if he could hold it without flinching.
