Chapter 78

Maren

The lake was so still it looked like glass. Not a ripple, not a whisper. Just the reflection of the moon — pale and sharp as silver — staring back at me like it knew something I didn’t.

Kaelen’s warmth still lingered on my skin. His words echoed in my chest like a steady drumbeat, You’re mine. And I’ll fight whatever tries to take you — even the sea.

But the moment he’d said it, a different