Aurelia's breath echoed through the narrow tunnel as she crept deeper into the darkness. The cold stone walls pressed against her as she moved, the only sound her footsteps muffled by the thick air. Every step felt like a step toward freedom. She couldn't help but feel a flicker of hope. The collar around her neck burned slightly, but she pushed through it, focused on the faint light ahead that promised an exit.
The tunnel felt endless, winding through the mountain like some forgotten secret. Aurelia's heart raced in her chest, and for the first time since she'd been captured, she allowed herself to believe that she might escape. The collar's oppressive weight wasn't as unbearable here in the darkness, and the air was different. Cooler. Less suffocating.
She kept moving until a voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Aurelia."
Her body froze, panic rising like a tidal wave. She didn't even need to look to know who it was. The voice was unmistakable. Kaelen.
"Kaelen," she whispered, a flicker of fear gripping her. She slowly turned around, her back to the tunnel wall. "What are you doing here?"
He stepped into the dim light, his silhouette tall and imposing, yet there was something different about him. He wasn't angry. He wasn't shouting. His posture was calm, almost resigned. The kind of calm a wolf would have before it pounced on its prey—but it didn't.
"I could ask you the same," Kaelen said, his eyes locking with hers. There was no fury in his gaze, only a kind of understanding, a look she hadn't expected.
Aurelia squared her shoulders, trying to maintain some sense of control, but she couldn't ignore the strange flutter in her chest. "I'm leaving. If you can't stop me, I'll go."
Kaelen's lips quirked into a half-smile, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I'd have escaped too," he said, the words coming out softly, without the venom she'd expected. "I wouldn't want to be here either."
Aurelia blinked, taken aback by his response. She had expected anger, punishment, perhaps even violence—but not this. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words got caught in her throat.
He stepped closer, his gaze never leaving hers. "I didn't bring you here to break you, Aurelia. If I could let you go, I would."
Aurelia felt a sharp pang of confusion at his words. This was the man who had locked her in chains, placed that cursed collar around her neck. Why was he speaking to her like this?
"Why?" she whispered, the word escaping before she could stop it.
Kaelen's expression softened, but there was a heaviness in his eyes. "Because I know what it's like to be trapped," he murmured. "To be forced into something you never wanted. To feel like you have no way out."
There it was again. That strange sympathy. It hit her like a blow, and she couldn't decide whether to accept it or push it away.
He took another step closer, and this time, she didn't retreat. There was something magnetic about the way he moved, the way he carried himself. It was hard not to feel the pull. She wanted to push him away, wanted to scream at him for everything he'd done to her. But something inside her—something primal—kept her still.
The air between them thickened, the tension becoming palpable. Aurelia could almost feel the heat radiating off his body. The collar burned against her skin, reacting to the proximity. She shifted slightly, discomfort creeping up her spine.
"I didn't ask for this," she said, her voice barely a whisper.
Kaelen nodded. "None of us do."
There was an odd silence between them, one that felt fragile, as if a single wrong word would shatter whatever strange understanding had started to form.
Then, as if it were inevitable, Aurelia's gaze flickered to his hand, which was only inches from hers. She barely registered the motion, but the tension in the air seemed to spike in an instant. His fingers twitched, like he might reach for her, and for a split second, she thought she might let him.
The collar around her neck pulsed, sending a shock of heat through her body. The rune on the collar flickered, its light intensifying. Aurelia gasped, stepping back instinctively, her heart hammering in her chest.
Kaelen's eyes widened slightly, but he didn't move. He didn't reach for her, despite the silent invitation. The collar pulsed again, brighter this time, as if warning them both.
"Do you feel that?" Aurelia asked, her voice barely audible, the weight of the collar making it harder to breathe.
Kaelen glanced at her, his gaze sharp with sudden awareness. "What is it?"
Before she could answer, the collar emitted a low, resonating hum, and one of the runes cracked, sending a shockwave of energy through the tunnel. The power surged, making the walls vibrate. The moment was broken, and the strange connection between them shattered.
Aurelia stepped back, her heart racing. "It's not safe," she murmured, her pulse thundering in her ears.
Kaelen remained still for a moment, the intensity of the moment lingering in the air between them. His eyes darkened, his posture stiffening. "We need to get you back," he said, his tone suddenly hard.
Aurelia met his gaze, her mind spinning. She didn't know what had just happened. The magic of the collar had interfered, preventing them from getting any closer. But the feelings were still there, tangled beneath the surface. The pull, the tension, the desire.
She turned away first, not trusting herself to stay any longer. "I'm not going back to that cage," she said over her shoulder, the defiance returning to her voice.
"Then you'll make things worse for yourself," Kaelen warned, his voice heavy with something Aurelia couldn't quite place.
"I'd rather risk that than stay here and rot," she shot back, her voice steady despite the growing tremor inside her.
Kaelen didn't respond. He just stood there, watching her retreat, the weight of his gaze almost too much to bear. As she disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel, Aurelia couldn't shake the feeling that something had changed between them—something she couldn't explain.