Page 119 of Unveiled

Chapter Thirty-Three

Connor

The fire sparked. The valley trembled. And the bond between them pulsed quiet but unmistakable.

The castle should’ve been quiet. Night had smothered the valley in deep indigo, and every sensible creature had retreated indoors. Even the magical lights under the fault lines had dimmed to a tired, muted pulse.

But Connor couldn’t sleep. And Adrian apparently couldn’t either, so he’d joined him in the study.

The Chronicle of the First Two lay on the table between them, the black stone tablet laden with more truth than they had ever asked for. The carved sigils glinted faintly in the lamplight, as if drinking in the shadows around them.

Connor stared at Adrian. “You’re thinking too loudly,” he muttered.

Adrian blinked. “I’m simply sitting.”

“And overthinking while doing it.”

Adrian chuckled. “You think all problems can be solved with less thought.”

Connor shrugged. “Most can.”

Adrian smoothed his fingertips over the edges of the tablet. “This one can’t. Surely it’s a story, a legend.”

Connor shook his head. “No legend drops rifts, fault lines, and ancient bloody lore tablets at our feet.”

Adrian lowered his gaze. “The First Two died sealing the rend.”

“They aren’t us.”

“But what if we repeat their end?”

Connor reached out, cupping Adrian’s jaw. “We’re writing our own story. Not theirs.”

“Yet the Veil keeps comparing us.”

“The Veil doesn’t know us,” Connor growled. “We decide what we are.”

Adrian sighed. “You make it sound simple.”

“It is,” Connor said with a shrug. “Because it’s this,” he tapped the centre of Adrian’s chest over the mark, “and you and me.”

Adrian went still. The mark answered with a soft pulse of gold and violet. Connor felt it through his fingers. The air shifted, and the study darkened. Not ominously, but as if the room itself leaned in to listen. Connor reached forward, lifting the stone tablet in both hands.

“Their vow,” he murmured. “It saved the world once.”

Adrian looked away. “It killed them.”

“No.” Connor shook his head. “The Council killed them. Not the vow.”

Adrian closed his eyes, frustration flickering across his face.

“Adrian,” Connor entreated. “Look at me.”

Adrian opened his eyes to see Connor holding the tablet between them.

“We don’t need their vow,” he said. “We need ours. Xiathen said as much.” Connor leaned forward. “Whatever we choose will shape the valley. Strengthen the bond, fortify the mark, shield you, and shield me.”

Adrian swallowed. “And if we choose incorrectly?”