Chapter 83

*Elora*

“Varis?”

The name barely left my mouth before everything tilted sideways.

He stood in the corridor’s half-light, shadow bleeding from his skin like a living second layer. His hair was wild, damp with sweat, his body tense—ready. But it was his face that undid me. The raw emotion there. Regret. Pain. Hope.

Corvus cursed under her breath and lunged again.

But Varis was faster.

Faster than an