Shadow Bound Fate

Problems In The Circle

Lira's POV

Caius and Thalia drifted off not long after dinner, leaving Kieran and I to keep watch. The fire crackled softly, its warm glow casting flickering shadows against the trees. The silence between us was heavy, punctuated only by the occasional rustle of leaves in the forest. I volunteered for the first watch, unable to sleep with my mind spinning over everything that had happened today.

"You doing okay?" Kieran's voice broke the quiet as he sat down beside me.

I jumped slightly, startled by his approach. He'd been distant and strange lately, and I hadn't expected him to speak, let alone sit this close. His sudden question caught me off guard.

"Yeah," I replied, shaking my head as if to clear it. "I'm not even tired."

Kieran nodded, but the tension in the air grew palpable. He seemed on the verge of saying something, his body language uneasy. His fingers tapped lightly against his knee, and his gaze flickered between the fire and the trees.

"He's nervous about something," Vespera murmured in my mind, his tone laced with curiosity.

I turned to Kieran, raising an eyebrow. "Is there something you want to say? You've been acting weird around me lately."

A slow, almost hesitant smile tugged at his lips. He chuckled softly, running a hand through his hair as if to steady himself. "You don't see it, do you?" he asked, his voice low.

"See what?" I asked, genuinely confused as I turned to look at him. His light brown eyes, almost gray in the firelight, seemed to hold an intensity I hadn't noticed before. Had his eyes always been that color?

"That I care about you," he said, his voice carrying a weight I wasn't prepared for. He reached out, taking my hand in his.

I snapped my head toward him, startled. Slowly, I pulled my hand away. "I care about you too, Kieran," I said carefully, unsure of where this was going.

He shook his head, a bittersweet smile on his lips. "No, Lira. I mean I care about you."

My heart sank as the implications of his words hit me. "Kieran, I don't think—"

But he didn't let me finish. "I fell for you, Lira. Hard and fast. That night at the bar, I wanted to get to know you better, to see if there could be something between us. But then everything went to hell with the Night Syndicate, and it all ended before it even began."

I stared at him, my mind reeling. This can't be happening.

"I can't stop thinking about you," he continued, his voice raw as he leaned toward me.

"Woah, Kieran. Let's not do this," I said, placing my hands on his chest to push him back. But as I did, a vision slammed into my mind like a thunderclap.

The vision was fragmented but vivid. Kieran was walking behind Caius and his father in the Night Syndicate's stronghold. The air was heavy with tension. Then, everything went black. When the scene returned, a woman with dark red hair and piercing grey eyes appeared. Her lips, painted a striking crimson, curled into a sinister smile as she whispered an enchantment. Her voice was low and melodic, dripping with malice. Kieran's expression shifted—his eyes glazed over, his body stiffening as if under her control.

The vision faded, and I was thrust back into the present just as Kieran's lips hovered inches from mine. "Kieran, stop!" I shouted, shaking him hard in an attempt to snap him out of it.

Caius emerged from the shadows like a specter, his face carved with fury. His fists were clenched, and the shadows around him seemed to writhe with his anger. I scrambled to my feet, stepping between him and Kieran.