A Shadow of the Past

### Chapter 13: A Shadow of the Past

The moment we stopped running, Kael pulled me aside. His grip was firm—not gentle, not rough, just... controlled. Everything about him was controlled. His breathing was steady, his posture upright, as if he hadn't just sprinted through the forest with the rest of us.

I, on the other hand, felt like my lungs were going to explode.

"Sit down," Kael ordered.

I scowled at him. "I don't need—"

His hand pressed against my chest, and with the ease of someone handling a ragdoll, he shoved me back onto a fallen log.

Okay. Maybe I did need to sit down.

Kael crouched in front of me, his gaze sharp. "What happened back there? Don't tell me 'nothing.'"

I hesitated. Ember was pacing a few feet away, muttering curses under her breath, while Nightshade sat beside her, ears twitching. But Kael wasn't looking at either of them. His focus was entirely on me.

"I felt something," I admitted. "In my head. Like… something trying to *get in*."

Kael's expression darkened. He didn't respond right away, but his fingers curled slightly at his side. Not in fear. In calculation.

Ember stopped pacing. "You mean like a telepathic attack?"

I nodded. "It wasn't just that, though. It was like—like it was *toying* with me. Like it *knew* me."

Kael stood, exhaling sharply. "You need to get stronger."

I bristled. "I *am* getting stronger."

Kael turned to me, and for the first time since I met him, I saw something flicker in his expression. Not annoyance. Not frustration.

Pity.

"You don't understand," he said. "You're not *weak*, Dominic. But compared to what's coming? You might as well be."

The words stung, but I couldn't argue. Kael wasn't the type to insult people for no reason. If he was saying this, it meant he genuinely thought I wasn't ready.

Ember frowned. "Oh, come *on*. Dom just bonded with a monster stronger than anything we've ever seen. Give him some credit."

Kael shook his head. "Bonding isn't enough. He needs control. Power. Right now, if that thing wanted to take him, it *would*."

I swallowed hard. "And you? Would it take *you*?"

Kael's eyes met mine, unblinking. "No."

Something in his voice made the hair on my arms stand up. He didn't say it arrogantly. He said it like a fact. Like gravity or the way the sun rises.

And then I realized something else.

Kael had *never* seemed scared. Not of the monsters. Not of the Order. Not of anything.

I had seen Ember panic. I had seen myself panic. But Kael? Never.

"…Why?" I asked.

Kael exhaled, and for a moment, I thought he wasn't going to answer. But then he surprised me.

"Because I was raised by something worse."

Ember and I exchanged glances. "Worse than the Order?" she asked.

Kael gave a humorless laugh. "The Order raised *you*, Ember. They trained you. Controlled you. But me?" He tapped his chest. "I wasn't raised. I was *designed*."

The air felt heavier.

I hesitated. "What… does that mean?"

Kael turned away from me, staring at the trees. For a moment, he didn't speak. Then, he rolled up his sleeve.

Beneath the fabric, his forearm was covered in scars. Not just any scars—precise, surgical lines crisscrossing over his skin. Some old. Some newer. Some *glowing*.

"I wasn't born in a city. I wasn't raised by a family. I wasn't even *supposed* to be a person," Kael said, his voice eerily calm. "The Order wasn't the only group experimenting with bonds. There was another faction. One that wanted something *stronger*."

I felt my stomach twist. "And you were—"

"Their experiment."

Silence.

Ember's face had gone pale. "That's insane," she whispered. "They— They wouldn't—"

Kael let his sleeve fall back down. "They did. And for a while, it worked."

The hum in my chest felt different now. Like it recognized something in Kael. Something dangerous.

He turned back to me. "They bonded me with something. Not like your creatures. Something *else*."

I couldn't even process what I was hearing. "Then… what happened?"

Kael smiled, but there was no warmth in it. Only cold, sharp memory. "I broke them first."

Ember inhaled sharply. I just sat there, stunned.

Kael continued, voice low. "You want to know why I'm ten times stronger than you, Dominic?" He gestured to himself. "Because I had to be. Because the second I *wasn't* strong enough, I stopped being a person. I became an experiment. And I refused to be that."

I tried to find the right words, but my mind was spinning.

Kael stretched his fingers, rolling his shoulders. "So, no. That thing wouldn't take me. Not without a fight." He glanced at me, his expression unreadable. "But it *would* take you. And I'm not going to let that happen."

I swallowed hard.

For the first time, I understood.

Kael wasn't fearless because he had nothing to be afraid of.

He was fearless because he *already* faced the worst thing that could ever happen to him. And survived.