Chapter 29. Half of Me is Flame

Aria woke to the soft, rhythmic sound of kindling crackling in the hearth, a stark contrast to the absolute silence of the room. The first thing she registered was the oppressive weight of guilt, followed swiftly by the agonizing sense of hollowness where her power had been. She was physically drained, her limbs heavy and cold, as if all her internal warmth had been used up in the last, destructive blast.

She was tucked onto a low cot, covered in a thick layer of furs. Kade was sitting across the small cabin, bathed in the dim, early afternoon light filtering through the small, makeshift window—a heavy wooden panel now covering the space where glass had once been.

He wasn't moving. He was simply staring at his hands, which were now meticulously wrapped in layers of thick, white linen, the bandages extending almost to his elbows. Even from across the room, she could feel the residual, thrumming pain radiating off him, a dull ache that resonated with her own shattered