Not yours to carry

I couldn't stop shaking.

It wasn't cold.

It wasn't fear.

It was him.....still inside me. His grief. His fire. His love.

Too much, too loud, too real.

"I said not to touch me," Kael said hoarsely, like he was punishing himself.

I didn't answer. Couldn't. My head felt cracked open. My skin buzzed like I was wearing someone else's soul.

He stood there, arms limp, magic gone quiet.

"I had it controlled. I had it contained. You didn't have to"

"You were about to explode," I snapped.

He flinched.

I hated how much it thrilled me.

"I'm not your problem, Ariya."

"Too late," I said, voice flat, biting. "You put a mark on me, remember? Bonded me like I'm your walking leash. So yeah guess I am your problem now."

He stepped closer, chest rising too fast.

"No. You didn't ask for this."

"Neither did you," I said, softer now. The anger cracked on my tongue.

Silence fell.

His hand twitched at his side.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

I laughed, sharp and broken.

"Like every emotion you've ever buried decided to throw a riot in my head."

He looked away.

"I'm sorry."

I hated how quiet he sounded. How small.

"Don't be," I said. "You didn't ask for me, either."

"But you took it."

"I felt it," I corrected. "You don't know what that's like."

His eyes met mine then.....dark, gold-rimmed, wrecked.

"I know what it's like to carry pain you can't unload."

A beat passed.

And then:

"Give it back."

"What?"

"Give it back, Ariya. The magic. The grief. All of it. It's not yours."

My breath caught.

"I can't. It's in me now. It won't leave."

He reached for me.

Then stopped.

Just a tremble in the space between us.

"Then you'll drown."

"I already am."

He closed the distance slowly, gaze locked on mine.

"I should've burned out a long time ago," he whispered. "You shouldn't be the one to carry the fallout."

"Too late," I said again. Quieter this time.

He looked at me like he wanted to say more. To fix it. To break something.

Instead, he stepped back.

Like touching me again might undo the little control he had left.

"Sleep," he said, voice hollow. "I'll watch."

"Kael"

"Don't."

And then he turned away.

And I stayed where I was.

Alone.

Full of his ghosts.

And worse?

For the first time in my life…

I wanted to feel them.