Lyra dropped to her knees beside Kael as dark veins spread across his chest like cracks in marble. The corruption from the shattered sigil shard pulsed beneath his skin, fighting against the ritual’s stabilizing light. His breath came in short, ragged bursts, each one laced with pain that tore through their mate bond and made her own chest ache in response. She pressed both hands to the worst of the spreading darkness, willing her strength into him, but the corruption resisted, pushing back like living ice.“Stay with me,” she whispered, her voice breaking as she leaned over him. His golden eyes, dimmer now, locked onto hers with fierce determination. Even in agony, he reached up and cupped her face, his thumb brushing her cheek with a tenderness that cut deeper than any wound. The bond between them flared weakly, carrying fragments of his love, his need, the way he had always looked at her as if she were the only light worth fighting for. She felt echoes of their shared nights in th
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