"You already think yourself a monster, angry human. I did not want to add fuel to the flames. The past of what people like you have done does not change you. I wanted you to have time to think on this before you knew more. Perhaps, with time, you can use your abilities for others as you did for me. To free them from madness.”

"Wait… you think I could do that for other rogue elementals?"

"Yes. Not now, but when you’re stronger. The elemental world suffers greatly from the rogue elementals. Especially the ancients, like me. You met the royal council on the day of your affinity trial. The leaders of elemental kind toil to find a way to stop the destruction of these rogues—to fight the madness slowly corrupting our strongest. You could be the key. I suspect it’s why they allowed you to live, even though unbound have the ability to cause true death to elementals.”

“Wait… true death?”

“Yes. With enough strength, unbound can draw an elemental completely dry. It’s the only way to truly kill us. To erase us from existence. Humans hunted your kind because they feared Lorkan’s creatures and his influence. My kind joined the fight because we feared the true death. But we paid deeply for our mistake. Without unbound, none can cleanse the madness slowly taking us.”

Before I can answer, a shadow falls across my table. I close the book and slip it out of view by instinct, hiding it in my lap.

"Late night reading?" Raith asks, voice low and rough. The fire markings of his affinity glow in the dim library light.

He carries a smell of woodsmoke on his body—a scent I've come to crave and enjoy.

I slip the unbound book into my bag, tucking it between more innocent texts. "Just research."

Raith's eyes follow my movement, but he doesn't comment. Instead, he slides onto the chair opposite me, his large frame making the wooden seat creak. "You missed dinner."

"I lost track of time."

His gaze flicks to Typhon, who has shifted to alert watchfulness. Raith is one of the few people Typhon regularly shows himself to, rather than remain invisible.

"Your dragon doesn't remind you to eat?"

"I have been telling her for hours that humans require regular sustenance," Typhon complains, forgetting Raith can't hear him.

"He tried," I admit. "But I was focused."

Raith reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small bundle wrapped in cloth. He unwraps it to reveal several thick slices of bread, cheese, and an apple. "Eat."

The simple command should irritate me, but my stomach growls loudly in response. "Thanks," I mutter, taking a slice of bread. I try to convince myself he just happened to be carrying food—that he didn't specifically go to the dining room and put together a meal for me.