Chapter 15

Your Fear Is Mine

After leaving the library, Evelynn made the extremely responsible decision to avoid everyone for the rest of the day.

Mostly because her entire existence suddenly felt suspicious.

A dragon king. A dead human woman. The same necklace. A war started by soul resonance.

Wonderful.

Exactly the kind of information people enjoyed learning while trapped inside a mountain fortress surrounded by giant fire-breathing predators.

By evening, Black Citadel had disappeared beneath another storm. Snow lashed violently against the tall palace windows while dragonfire burned low throughout the halls, casting restless shadows across black stone walls.

Evelynn sat curled near the fireplace in her chambers with a book open in her lap that she hadn’t actually read for nearly an hour.

Her thoughts kept circling back to Malek’s words.

The last woman who wore it was loved by a dragon king.

Not “owned.”

Not “chosen.”

Loved.

That somehow felt more dangerous.

A sharp knock interrupted her thoughts before the chamber door opened slightly and Serin stepped inside carrying dinner.

He immediately stopped upon seeing her expression.

“Oh no.”

Evelynn looked up tiredly. “What?”

“That face means you learned something upsetting.”

“Apparently I’m connected to ancient romantic disasters.”

Serin sighed deeply. “Ah. You found the historical section.”

“So everyone in this palace knew?”

“Knew what specifically? We currently have several ongoing catastrophes.”

Fair point.

Serin placed the tray carefully on the table near the fire. “Malek enjoys telling stories. Unfortunately, he also enjoys leaving out the emotionally damaging parts.”

“He told me the last soul bond started a war.”

Serin went still for half a second.

Too still.

Evelynn noticed immediately.

“You knew that too.”

“Everyone old enough in this palace knows the story.”

“And nobody thought maybe I should know?”

Serin looked genuinely confused. “Why would we tell the human woman magically bonded to the unstable dragon king a terrifying prophecy story?”

“…when you say it like that, I understand the hesitation.”

Exactly.

Serin looked relieved she’d finally become reasonable.

Poor man.

After he left, Evelynn forced herself to eat despite the anxiety twisting constantly beneath her ribs. The palace felt different tonight. Quieter. Tense somehow. Even the dragonfire in the hearth flickered strangely restless.

Like the storm outside was getting under everyone’s skin.

Eventually exhaustion won.

Barely.

Evelynn changed into sleep clothes, buried herself beneath layers of blankets, and spent another twenty minutes trying not to think about Kael’s face when he looked at the necklace.

Or the way his voice sounded when he said:

“Then we’re both doomed.”

Very relaxing thoughts before bed.

At some point the storm pulled her into sleep anyway.

And immediately into a nightmare.

Fire.

Not ordinary fire.

Golden dragonfire swallowing entire buildings beneath a black sky.

People screaming.

Stone collapsing.

The smell of ash and blood thick enough to choke on.

Evelynn ran through burning streets she didn’t recognize while something enormous roared overhead. Heat scorched her lungs. Smoke blurred her vision.

Then she saw him.

Kael.

Standing at the center of the destruction with black wings spread behind him while dragonfire spiraled wildly around his body.

But he looked younger.

And completely broken.

Blood covered his hands.

His eyes searched desperately through the burning city like he was looking for someone he’d already lost.

Then suddenly he looked directly at her.

Not through her.

At her.

And the grief in those gold eyes hit so hard it felt physical.

“Run,” he said.

The city exploded behind him.

Evelynn woke with a gasp.

Her entire body jerked upright in bed while panic slammed through her chest hard enough to hurt. Sweat clung cold against her skin despite the freezing room while thunder shook the palace windows outside.

The nightmare still clung to her mind too vividly.

The fire.

Kael’s face.

That grief.

Evelynn pressed one hand hard against her chest trying to steady her breathing.

It felt real.

Too real.

Then suddenly—

someone pounded against her chamber door.

Not a polite knock.

A violent one.

Evelynn startled hard.

Before she could answer, the doors swung open.

Kael stood there breathing hard.

Furious.

Dragonfire curled visibly around his hands.

“What happened?”

Evelynn blinked at him in confusion. “I—what?”

Kael crossed the room immediately, eyes sharp and searching. “Who frightened you?”

The question hit strangely.

Like he already knew she’d been afraid.

Evelynn stared at him. “I was asleep.”

Kael stopped abruptly beside the bed.

The dragonfire around his hands weakened slightly.

But his expression remained tense.

Wild almost.

“You were terrified.”

Silence.

Evelynn slowly frowned.

Then realization hit both of them at once.

The bond.

Kael saw it happen across his face too.

His jaw tightened immediately.

“Oh,” Evelynn said weakly. “That’s deeply invasive.”

Kael looked genuinely irritated now.

“At least pretend to understand the severity of this.”

“You broke into my bedroom at midnight because I had a nightmare.”

“You triggered dragonfire across half the western wing.”

…what?

Evelynn blinked slowly. “I did what?”

Kael dragged one hand down his face tiredly. “The bond transmitted the emotional spike.”

“The emotional spike.”

“You panicked.”

“I was being psychologically terrorized by my subconscious.”

Kael looked extremely unimpressed by the explanation.

Thunder cracked outside again while dragonfire flickered sharply along the fireplace behind him.

Evelynn noticed something else then.

Kael looked exhausted.

Not ordinary exhaustion either.

Tension pulled constantly beneath his skin like he’d been fighting his own temper for hours.

“Wait,” she said carefully. “You felt the nightmare?”

Kael didn’t answer immediately.

Which was answer enough.

Evelynn stared at him. “All of it?”

His silence stretched longer this time.

Then finally:

“Enough.”

Oh.

That explained why he looked ready to kill something.

Evelynn rubbed her face tiredly. “Well this bond somehow became even more emotionally unhealthy.”

Kael ignored the sarcasm and moved toward the balcony windows instead, shoulders tense beneath the dim firelight.

“You saw memories.”

Not a question.

Evelynn’s stomach tightened immediately.

“The burning city.”

Kael went still.

“The war.”

The silence that followed felt enormous.

Then very quietly, without turning around, Kael asked:

“What else did you see?”

Evelynn hesitated.

Because suddenly the answer felt dangerous.

But eventually she said it anyway.

“You looked like you lost everything.”

Kael closed his eyes briefly.

And for one terrible second—

Evelynn felt his grief through the bond.

Not imagined grief.

Real grief.

Ancient and crushing and endless.

It slammed into her chest hard enough to steal breath from her lungs.

Evelynn gasped softly.

Kael turned sharply at the sound.

Realization crossed his face immediately.

Too late.

She had already felt it.

The loneliness.

The guilt.

The unbearable weight of surviving something he never escaped.

Kael’s expression shut down instantly afterward.

Walls slamming back into place.

But the damage was done.

Evelynn looked at him differently now.

Not softer.

Not forgiving.

Just… understanding something she hadn’t before.

The Dragon King wasn’t merely afraid of becoming a monster.

He already believed he was one.