Kael's eyes widened.
He tried to step forward, but his body would not obey. He should have been able to move. He should have been able to lunge, to pull Theron away, to do something…anything.
Instead, he sank to one knee.
Not because she had forced him. Because something in her presence had. Something deeper than fear. Deeper than instinct. Something he did not understand.
Kael lifted his head despite himself and met her gaze.
Those eyes…
Dark now, too dark, and yet not cruel. Not false. Not filled with the malice he had expected. There was something else in them. Something ancient, and strange, and warm in a way darkness had no business being.
Perhaps because he, too, belonged to shadow.
Perhaps that was why it felt less like being threatened and more like being seen.
