Chapter 5: A Monster’s Warning

Elysia stared at Kael, her heart pounding in her chest. His words echoed in her mind.

"If you stay, you will be bound to my fate."

She should have been terrified. She should have turned and run. But something in the way he said it—so quiet, so filled with something almost like regret—made her hesitate.

"What does that mean?" she asked, stepping closer despite the warning.

Kael didn’t move, didn’t flinch, but his dark eyes locked onto hers, unblinking. "It means you should be afraid of me."

"I’m not," she said before she could stop herself.

His lips curved slightly, but it wasn’t a smile—it was something colder, something unreadable. "You should be."

Elysia clenched her fists. "If you wanted to hurt me, you would have done it already."

"That doesn’t mean I won’t."

The way he said it, so calm, so certain, should have sent her running. But instead, it only strengthened her resolve.

"You’re lying," she accused.

Kael raised a silver brow. "Am I?"

She swallowed. "Yes. You tell me to fear you, yet you keep your distance. You could have forced me into obedience like the others, but you didn’t. You could have hurt me, but you haven’t. Even now, you’re warning me instead of acting like the monster they all claim you are."

For the first time, Kael looked almost… unsettled.

His fingers flexed at his sides, and for a moment, she thought he might reach for her, but he didn’t. Instead, he exhaled softly, as if tired.

"You are too bold for your own good," he muttered.

Elysia crossed her arms. "Or maybe I just see what others refuse to."

Kael’s gaze darkened. "And what is that?"

"That you’re not as heartless as they say."

A tense silence filled the space between them.

Then, Kael chuckled—low and bitter. "You know nothing of me, little flame."

She flinched at the nickname. "Stop calling me that."

His smirk didn’t fade. "Why? Does it unsettle you?"

She glared at him. "No. It just sounds like something someone would say to a lover, and I am not yours."

His amusement vanished in an instant.

For the first time, something dangerous flickered in his eyes, something ancient and unreadable.

Elysia’s breath caught.

In one swift motion, he stepped closer, his presence overwhelming. His voice dropped to a near whisper.

"You are right," he murmured. "You are not mine. But if you stay here, if you continue to pry into things you shouldn’t—" His fingers lifted, barely brushing against her chin before he pulled back. "—you will be."

Her skin burned where he had touched it, even though it was barely a graze.

Elysia’s breath came faster, but she refused to back down.

"You’re trying to scare me again," she whispered.

Kael studied her, his expression unreadable. "And yet you still won’t run."

She didn’t answer.

Because for the first time, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to.

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