Chapter 117
Kross
The glow of the portal flickered against the walls, humming like a heartbeat that didn’t belong to me. Every pulse felt like a countdown to my worst nightmare. She was walking toward it, each step taking her further from me, further from life.
Something inside me snapped.
Before I realized it, my hand shot forward, clamping around her wrist, yanking her back toward me. My grip trembled—not from weakness, but from fear. Fear I couldn’t hide anymore.
“Don’t do this,” I choked out, my voice raw, shredded. My chest was heaving like I’d run a hundred battles, but the only fight I was losing was to her. “Vanya, please. I’m begging you—don’t.”
The words scorched my tongue. Begging. I had never begged anyone in my life. Not my father, not my grandfather, not the council, no
