Chapter 25 · Heartbeat Echo

"Get away from the gate, Elara!"

Kane’s voice didn’t just hit me—it slammed into my chest. He lunged, fingers digging into my wrist with a force that told me exactly how close he was to snapping. He yanked me back from the palace threshold just as a bolt of jagged shadow shrieked through the air, smashing into the stone where I’d been standing a second ago.

"He’s here," I whispered. My voice was a wreck. "Kane, he actually found me."

I looked past Kane’s shoulder. Silas stood in the rain, looking entirely too comfortable for a man who’d just tried to breach the most fortified palace in Apex City. He wasn't running. He wasn't hiding. He was smiling—that thin, oily look that made me feel like a piece of trash he’d already decided how to throw away.

"Oh, look at you two," Silas called out. His voice sliced through the downpour. "The savage King and his little pet. I can smell the bond from here. Absolutely revolting."

Kane let out a sound that wasn't human. A low, vibrating growl that started in his gut and ended in a snap of teeth.