All Chapters of Bound by Darkness: Shadowborn: Chapter 91 - Chapter 100

Ari's POVThe room felt smaller than it had ever been, a cage of four walls pressing inward, suffocating and unyielding. Shadows pooled in corners, thick and oily, coiling over the floor like smoke. Between us yawned an invisible chasm, a gulf of uncertainty and pain I could not cross. I sat on the edge of the narrow bed, hands clenched into trembling fists, knuckles white from the tension, heart hammering so violently it felt like it might burst from my chest.Therrin paced, every step sharp, precise, restless—like a predator or a caged bird, fragile yet dangerous, on the verge of breaking. The sound of her bare feet brushing the floor was an erratic drumbeat, a rhythm that mirrored the chaos inside me. Every turn, every restless spin of her, was a statement of conflict, a silent battle waged between desire, fear, and instinct.“Why won’t you talk to me?” I whispered, my voice a fragile thread, shaking, strained with desperate hope. “What are you hiding b

Ciaran’s POVThe world outside the cabin had grown quiet, settling into the soft lull of evening. The forest breathed around me, leaves whispering in the wind, the river’s current carrying secrets I would never hear. I stood at the edge of the clearing, lantern in hand, and let my mind drift to her—Therrin. The way she moved, so certain and fierce, yet fragile in ways only I could see. My pulse quickened at the thought, a subtle ache in my chest that demanded acknowledgment.I had spent hours preparing tonight. The clearing had to be perfect. The lanterns, hundreds of them, carefully suspended from the low-hanging branches and along the path leading to the riverbank, needed to cast a warm glow, soft enough to create intimacy but strong enough to guide her steps. Each light was a promise I wasn’t sure I could yet speak aloud. A promise that she belonged here, with me, even if only for a moment, even if the world tried to pull her elsewhere.I lit the first

Grimm’s POV The stars were heavy tonight. I watched them from the lowest branch of the old ash tree behind the cabin, tail curling and twitching against the bark. Lantern light spilled from the windows below, warm and flickering—a glow that didn’t belong to war, prophecy, or obligation, but to something far more foolish. Hope. Inside, she was laughing. I heard it, faint but real. Therrin. Her voice had changed—not just in tone, but in shape. It no longer curled with the guarded tension or iron-walled silence I’d come to know. It had begun to bloom. And Ciaran was the one coaxing it open. I narrowed my eyes. He had her sitting beside him, her head tipped slightly toward his shoulder. They weren’t touching—not in the way I would have worried about in the past—but something more dangerous passed between them. Quiet intimacy. Ease. A closeness that wasn’t just comfort—it was binding. Not by chains,

Ari’s POVThe world felt sharper from here, more intimate, yet unbearably fragile. I moved as she moved, every step, every tremor, a note I couldn’t ignore. Being inside her was both a blessing and a curse. I could feel her heartbeat, rapid and uncertain, a storm contained in a fragile cage of skin and bone. Every breath she drew was mine as well, and every flinch, every hesitation, hit me like a drum against my chest.She stopped at the edge of the glade, letting the sun warm her face. I watched, trapped in her awareness, as she raised her arms toward the light, stretching slowly, almost worshipfully. It should have been peaceful. The grass bent beneath the soft wind, the trees whispered secrets I could almost hear, and the river in the distance laughed its gentle song. But there was tension in her shoulders, and that tension sang to me more insistently than the babbling brook.I wanted to speak—to push my thoughts into her mind—but restraint was necessar

Grimm’s POVThe forest had moods, and Grimm knew them all.This one was wrong.It wasn’t the clean kind of silence, the kind that came after fresh snow muffled every sound, or when a summer storm sat heavy in the air, waiting to break. This silence was the breath before a predator pounced. The air was sharp, metallic on the tongue, and beneath it was something else — something old, patient, and far too aware of him.Grimm padded through the undergrowth, his paws barely whispering against the damp earth. Each step was deliberate, weight distributed so the forest barely registered his passage. Above, the canopy swayed in a restless wind, leaves whispering a language older than mortals. He listened — always listening — but what he wanted to hear wasn’t there.The birds hadn’t returned since dawn.The squirrels that normally chattered insults from the branches were gone.The forest was holding its breath.He had been shadowing Cia