Celeste's POV
I can't breathe.
Not because my ribs are broken—though they are. Not because I just ran from a collapsing storm—though I did. I can't breathe because there's someone else living inside my chest.
Get OUT! I scream in my mind, pressing both hands over my heart like I can physically push him away.
I can't, Kieran's voice echoes in my head, and I feel his frustration like it's my own. My soul is shattered. It needs your heartbeat to stay together. If I leave, I scatter back into the storms forever.
"No, no, no!" I gasp out loud, stumbling backward. My foot catches on a rock, and I start to fall—
Except I don't.
My body moves on its own, twisting with impossible speed. I land on my feet in a crouch I never made myself do.
What are you DOING? I shriek mentally.
Saving us from falling! Kieran snaps back. You're clumsy.
"I'm not clumsy! Stop controlling my body!"
A flash of lightning, and suddenly he's there—manifesting beside me as a semi-transparent figure made of crackling electricity. He's tall, with dark hair that moves like it's caught in wind that isn't there. His eyes are storm-gray and furious.
"I'm not controlling you," he says through gritted teeth. "I'm connected to your reflexes. When you're about to get hurt, my power reacts automatically."
"Well, stop reacting!"
"I literally can't!" He gestures at the glowing threads of lightning connecting his chest to mine. "We're bound together. Your heartbeat is keeping my soul from falling apart. I feel everything you feel. Every emotion. Every sensation. Every—"
He stops suddenly, his eyes widening.
I realize what he's sensing through our bond—my absolute terror at having a stranger inside me. My rage at being violated. My grief over losing Maris. My shame at being powerless.
His expression softens slightly. "You're... really broken, aren't you?"
"Thanks for noticing," I say bitterly, wiping ash from my face with shaking hands.
Through the bond, I feel something unexpected from him—sympathy. And underneath that, an ocean of his own pain. A thousand years of torture. Agony so deep it has no bottom. The memory of watching his family die.
"Stop that," I whisper.
"Stop what?"
"Broadcasting your feelings. I can feel them. It's... it's too much."
"You think I want you feeling this?" Kieran's form flickers with anger. "You think I want anyone experiencing what they did to me?"
Before I can respond, the ground shakes. Behind us, the Stormrift collapses completely—lightning imploding inward with a sound like reality screaming.
"Run!" Kieran shouts.
I don't need to be told twice. I sprint away from the dying storm, my broken ribs sending spikes of agony through my chest with every step. But I'm moving faster than I should be. Kieran's power is flowing through my legs, giving me speed I never had before.
This feels wrong, I think desperately.
Would you rather die? he shoots back.
We barely make it past the storm's edge before the entire Stormrift implodes. The shockwave throws me forward, and I hit the ground hard enough to see stars.
For a moment, everything is silent except for my ragged breathing and the frantic pounding of my heart.
Then Kieran manifests again, kneeling beside me. He reaches out like he's going to touch my face, but his hand passes right through.
"I can't stay solid for long," he says quietly. "The bond is still settling. But we need to talk about this."
"Talk about what? The fact that you invaded my body without permission?"
"I didn't invade—your blood broke the seal! I was dying! My soul was fragmenting back into pure agony, and your heartbeat was the only thing keeping me together!" His voice cracks. "I didn't choose this any more than you did."
I sit up slowly, hugging my knees to my chest. Through the bond, I feel his desperation. His terror at the thought of returning to those storms. A thousand years of conscious torture, and he'd do anything—ANYTHING—to avoid going back.
"How do we break it?" I ask.
Silence.
"Kieran. How do we break the bond?"
His form flickers. "I... don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"This type of soul-binding shouldn't be possible!" He runs his hands through his hair, making the lightning strands crackle. "My people studied soul-magic for centuries, and we never found a way to anchor a fragmented soul to a living heartbeat. The fact that it worked is a miracle. The fact that you're not dead is impossible."
"So we're stuck together."
"Yes."
"Forever."
"I... maybe." He won't meet my eyes. "We need to find someone who knows more about soul-magic. Someone who can—"
"Everyone who knew soul-magic died a thousand years ago when your kingdom fell," I interrupt. "You said so yourself. The Radiant Court destroyed all the Lightning-Blessed. All their knowledge. Everything."
Kieran's expression goes dark. "Not everything. There might be... fragments. Hidden texts. Someone who survived."
"And while we search for this mythical someone, I'm supposed to just live with you inside me? Feeling my every emotion? Controlling my body when you decide I need saving?"
"I told you, I'm not—"
"You moved my body without my permission!"
"To save your life!"
"It's still MY life! MY body!" I'm shaking now, tears burning my eyes. "Don't you understand? I already lost everything. My magic, my family, my name, my future. The only thing I had left was myself. And now you've taken that too."
The words hang in the air between us.
Through the bond, I feel Kieran's emotions shift—guilt crashing into his anger like waves against rocks.
"I'm sorry," he says finally, his voice barely a whisper. "I'm sorry this happened to you. To both of us. But we're bound now. We survive together or we die separately. Those are our only choices."
I want to argue. I want to scream. But exhaustion is dragging me down like an anchor. My body is failing—too many injuries, too much trauma, too much everything.
"I need to rest," I manage.
"There's an exile camp not far from here," Kieran says. "I can sense life-currents—electrical signals from heartbeats. There are people that way." He points east. "Can you walk?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"Not really."
I force myself to stand, swaying dangerously. Through the bond, I feel Kieran's concern—and his fear that if I collapse, we might both fragment.
We start walking in silence.
After a few minutes, his voice echoes in my mind, quieter than before: For what it's worth... I understand. Losing everything. Having your whole world destroyed. Being powerless while people who should protect you become your worst enemies.
I don't respond. But through the bond, he feels my acknowledgment. My small, grudging understanding that we're both prisoners now—just in different ways.
We're almost to the camp when I sense it.
Something's wrong.
Kieran feels it too. His form goes rigid, lightning crackling brighter around him.
"What is that?" I whisper.
"Hunting magic," he says, his voice tight with alarm. "They've sent trackers. The Radiant Court knows I'm awake."
In the distance, I see lights moving through the ash. Not natural lights—magical ones. Searcher spells designed to find specific targets.
"Can they sense you?" I ask.
"Worse." Kieran's storm-gray eyes meet mine, and through the bond, I feel his rising dread. "They can sense the bond. The magical signature of two souls sharing one heartbeat is unique. Unmistakable."
The lights are getting closer.
"Run," Kieran commands.
"I can barely walk!"
"Then let me—"
"No!" I cut him off. "You are NOT controlling my body!"
"Celeste, they will capture us both!"
The lights are maybe a quarter-mile away now. I can hear voices shouting orders. The sound of something large moving through the ash.
Through the bond, I feel Kieran's power surging, ready to take over my body by force if necessary. And I feel my own stubborn refusal, ready to fight him even if it kills us both.
We're frozen in a standoff—two souls, one heartbeat, and hunters closing in fast.
The voices are getting louder.
Kieran's lightning-form flickers with barely controlled panic.
And then I hear a voice that makes my blood turn to ice.
"Celeste!" Prince Aldric's voice echoes across the Cinderfalls, amplified by magic. "I know you're out there! Come out, and I'll make it quick! Hide, and I'll make you watch everyone in that exile camp die slowly!"
Through the bond, Kieran and I share one thought:
We're trapped.