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Luna looks up at me first, eyes dark with knowing, already tired of whatever I’m about to say before I even open my mouth.

Layla, sitting beside her, tilts her head back, taking me in with the slow, measured calculation of a woman who has already decided I am, at best, a disaster in human form.

I shift my step into something looser, a little more obnoxiously confident, a saunter, if you will. Because if I’m going to be insufferable, I might as well commit.

Luna exhales. Not a cute little sigh, no, this one is deep, bone-weary, soul-shattering.

I’m so good at being exhausting.

I drop down beside her, sprawling just enough to invade her space. She doesn’t move away, but her fingers curl slightly, like she’s deciding whether or not to smack me.

I grin. “Miss me?”

Luna levels me with a look. “You’ve been here for hours, Silas.”

“Yes, but have you emotionally processed my return? Have you allowed yourself the full range of emotions that come with reuniting with the greatest ”

She holds up a hand. “Don’t finish that sentence.”

Layla, betrayal incarnate, leans her chin on her fist, watching us with way too much amusement. “No, please, I want to hear this.”

I beam at her. “Thank you, Layla. Finally, someone who appreciates me.”

Luna mutters something under her breath about tragedy and suffering, but I pretend not to hear it.

Layla waves a hand. “So? The greatest what?”

I tilt my head, considering. “The greatest mistake Luna has ever made?”

Luna exhales again, even heavier this time. “Correct.”

I clutch my chest. “Wounded.”

“You should be.”

Layla laughs, leaning back against the rock. “Gods, I see why Elias keeps you around. I thought he was the worst, but- ”

“Ah, ah, ah.” I wag a finger. “I’m a treasure. Elias just likes standing next to me because I make him look more responsible by comparison.”

Luna rubs at her temples, looking two seconds from committing a crime. “Silas.”

“Yes, angel face?”

“Don’t call me that.”

I smirk, shifting closer, dropping my voice into something low, teasing, undeniably fucking stupid. “What if I whispered it, very softly, into your ear?”

Luna turns her head so slowly, so methodically, that it’s terrifying.

I lift my brows, grinning.

She stares at me for a long beat. Then, finally, she exhales, leans back, and mutters, “I should have left you in the Rift.”

Layla wheezes.

I clasp my hands together. “Bold of you to assume you could live without me.”

Luna glares at the fire. “I could learn.”