Chapter 78
The shift came without warning.
Kael felt it before anything appeared, a sudden tightening in the air that locked onto him with unsettling precision, like something had found exactly what it had been searching for. It didn't crash into the space or surge outward the way power usually did. Instead, it narrowed, drawing everything inward until the pressure centered entirely on him. The storm reacted instantly, not by breaking free, but by pulling tight beneath his skin, coiling as if it recognized what had just entered the space. The lightning that had been unstable moments ago settled along his arms and chest, no longer chaotic, but controlled in a way that felt deliberate and unfamiliar.
Mira didn't move.
"Don't run," she said quietly.
Kael let out a slow breath, though nothing about him felt steady. "That wasn't my plan."
