Elira woke with her hands already folded over her wrist.
Not in pain.
In restraint.
The realization came before fear. Her fingers were pressed deliberately against the wound, slowing the pulse, controlling the bleed she hadn't yet noticed. Her breathing was steady. Her muscles are loose but ready.
She had not decided any of that.
She lay still, staring at the cracked ceiling of the apartment, and felt the truth settle coldly into her bones.
"You're doing this even when I'm asleep," she whispered.
Kael did not answer right away.
She felt him there regardless. Not loud. Not pressing. Present in the way gravity was present. Unavoidable.
Your body learns faster when your mind stops interfering, he said finally.
Her throat tightened. "So I don't even get my dreams anymore."
A pause.
You dream less now. Fear keeps you alert.
Elira turned her head to the side and swallowed. The room was quiet. Pale morning light slipped through the narrow window. The city outside sounded ordinary. Cars. Footsteps. Someone arguing faintly on a phone.
Normal life continued.
She sat up slowly. The moment she shifted, her balance corrected itself. Her spine straightened. Her feet found the floor without wobbling.
It was efficient.
It was not hers.
She pushed herself to stand and walked toward the sink. Her reflection stared back at her, eyes too sharp, face drawn but focused. The bandage around her wrist was clean. Rewrapped.
She hadn't done that either.
"Stop fixing me," she said.
Stop breaking yourself, Kael replied.
She braced her hands on the counter. "I'm not a thing you maintain."
You are a vessel sustaining a king. Precision matters.
Her jaw clenched. "I didn't agree to this."
Kael's presence shifted, attention narrowing.
Agreement is irrelevant once survival is at stake.
She closed her eyes, counting breaths. One. Two. Three.
When she opened them, she said, "I need food."
The answer came immediately.
There is bread in the cupboard. Protein will follow later.
Her stomach twisted. "You planned this."
I prepare—a pause. You would not last long without it.
Elira opened the cupboard, shaking with trembling hands. There it was. Bread. Water. Even vitamins, neatly arranged.
Someone had thought about her staying alive.
Someone had assumed she would stay.
She tore a piece of bread and ate it mechanically, not tasting it. Halfway through, a sudden wave of dizziness hit her. Her knees buckled.
She grabbed the counter.
Kael surged closer.
Slower, he commanded. Your blood is still unstable.
Her pulse pounded in her ears. "Unstable how?"
Silence.
Then, carefully, he said, It is changing.
Her breath caught. "Changing into what?"
Something that can carry me longer.
Elira straightened abruptly. "You said this was temporary."
Another pause. Longer this time.
I said you would survive.
Her heart dropped. "That's not the same thing."
No, Kael agreed. It is not.
She backed away from the counter, shaking her head. "Undo it. Whatever you're doing to me. Stop it now."
Kael's voice cooled.
If I stop, the bond destabilizes. If the bond destabilizes, you hemorrhage internally. You will die quietly, very quickly.
The room felt smaller.
"You're lying," she whispered.
I am correcting your expectations.
Elira pressed her fist to her mouth, panic clawing up her throat. "So that's it? I… change until I'm not me anymore?"
Kael did not soften his answer.
You will change until you can endure what is coming.
Her eyes burned. "What's coming?"
He did not answer.
Instead, something else happened.
Her phone buzzed on the table.
The sound was sharp in the quiet room.
Elira stared at it as if it might explode.
"No," she said immediately. "You said I can't talk to anyone."
I said you cannot speak of me, Kael replied. I did not tell the world that it would stop calling you.
Her phone buzzed again.
A name flashed on the screen.
Her cousin.
Elira's chest seized. "I have to answer."
Kael's presence tightened.
You must be careful. Fear leaks.
She picked up the phone with trembling fingers and answered.
"Hello?"
"Elira?" Her cousin's voice cracked with relief. "Thank God. You didn't come home. I was— I thought—"
"I'm fine," Elira said too quickly. "I just… crashed at a friend's place."
Kael went very still.
Her cousin exhaled shakily. "You scared me. There were men downstairs this morning. Asking questions."
Elira's blood turned to ice.
"What kind of men?"
"I don't know. Suits. Weird accents. They asked if you lived there. I told them no." A pause. "Did I do the right thing?"
Elira couldn't breathe.
They are already widening the circle, Kael said calmly.
Her cousin kept talking, unaware. "They said something about a medical incident. Elira, are you in trouble?"
Elira's hands shook. "Listen to me. You need to pack a bag and go to Aunt Mara's. Right now."
"What? Why?"
"Just do it," Elira said, voice breaking. "Please."
Silence. Then, softer, "Okay. Okay, I trust you."
The call ended.
Elira lowered the phone slowly, her body trembling.
"They're using me," she whispered. "Everyone near me is in danger."
Yes, Kael said.
Her eyes flashed. "And you knew that."
From the moment they marked you, he replied. You became a beacon.
Her knees gave out. She sank onto the mattress, staring at her hands.
"I never wanted this," she said hoarsely.
Kael's presence settled heavier, closer.
Want is a luxury of the unbound.
Tears slid down her cheeks. "Then what am I now?"
Silence stretched.
When Kael spoke again, his voice was low and absolute.
You are no longer a woman the world can ignore.
Her chest tightened. "That's not comforting."
It is not meant to be.
She wiped her face angrily. "You said obedience would keep me alive."
It will.
"And if I obey perfectly?" she asked. "If I do everything you say?"
Kael did not hesitate.
Then you will outlive what is hunting you.
Her breath shook. "And after that?"
A pause.
Not long.
Just deliberate.
After that, Kael said, you will belong to what you have become.
The words landed like a closing door.
Elira stared at the wall, the apartment, the city she could no longer touch without consequence.
Outside, a siren wailed and faded.
Inside her, the bond tightened, steady and irreversible.
And Elira understood, with quiet terror, that whatever she was becoming had already begun long before she ever said yes.