Chapter 114 - Still His

The cabin felt too small. Too still. The fire flickered weakly in the hearth, its warmth unable to cut through the ice locked inside Taryn's chest.

She was shaking.

Not just from the blood loss, not just from exhaustion—but from something deeper. Something she couldn't name without breaking apart completely.

Lucien was gone. Kah'el had sent him outside, his voice sharp, unyielding. "Get out. You're taking watch duty."

Lucien had stared at him, breathing heavy, his hands still curled into fists. The air between them had crackled with something dangerous, something Taryn wasn't sure she had the strength to process.

Then, without a word, Lucien had turned and left. The door shut behind him with a dull, final thud.

Silence settled in his absence, thick and suffocating.