I wish I had. But unfortunately, my conveniently half-functioning brain decides now is the perfect time to replay the whole thing in high definition.
He kissed me like he meant it. Like it wasn’t me who needed the touch, but him. I remember his hand gripping the back of my neck. I remember the way his mouth moved with mine like he was starving for me. I remember—
I shift in my seat.
“Uh, yeah,” I manage. “Let me, uh… think about it.”
“Sure. But know that I like to pay my debts,” he says, like that’s supposed to sway me.
And I like having control over my own life. Too bad I don’t. Because of you.
I open my mouth to say something, anything, but before I can, Talon lets out a long, theatrical sigh beside me. The kind that starts in his chest and unfurls into something sinfully smug.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” he drawls, stretching his legs out. “Can we not spend the rest of the drive wallowing in Skye’s ex? I beg you. There are much more stimulating topics to explore.”
He shifts just enough for his thigh to brush mine.
“Like, for instance,” he murmurs, voice dropping into a velvet purr, “what we’re going to do when we get back to base. We could talk battle strategy. Logistics. Objectives. Or…” He leans in, his breath warm at my ear. “We could unwind a little. Indulge. Something fun, maybe.”
I swallow. My whole body tenses. I know that tone—mischief wrapped in silk and strung with barbed wire. Talon’s idea of “fun” is never PG.
Then he adds, deadpan and devastating, “You’re still fragile, after all. Weak and helpless. Maybe we should give you another little boost. See if your powers kick back in.”
I choke.
Not metaphorically. A real, undignified, strangled sound escapes me, because I genuinely don’t know if I can handle it.
Back in the limbo, I used to crave touch more than life itself. Just feeling something, made me feel real. Now that I am alive, everything feels too much. The sensations, the awareness, the edge of it all. And worse, other feelings came with it. Like fear. Like uncertainty. Like actually having something to lose.
I clear my throat, trying to pretend I’m not one second from combusting.
“Right,” I say, voice a little hoarse. “A… boost. Just like before.”
Talon chuckles darkly, like he can hear the frantic pounding of my heart. Which, honestly, he probably can. My body is loud. My thoughts are louder. And the worst part is, I’m not just cravingthe touch because it can bring me back from the brink this time around. I want it because I want these stupid fuckers.
All of them.
“We don’t know if it would even work again,” I say, trying to rein in the heat crawling up my neck.
“Why not?” Talon drawls. I glance at him. He’s not even trying to hide the way he’s looking at me—like he’s imagining it already. Like we’re already tangled up again, and he's just replaying it in his head.
“Because the physics of me are different now,” I say. “Literally. I’m not the same as I was when I glitched in the in-between.”
Talon’s grin turns lazy. Dangerous. “Right. You’re solid now.”
My breath catches.
Nathaniel, who’s been silent this whole time, speaks up from the front. “Skye’s right. The mechanics have shifted. Lust triggered a glitch in the ambulance, yeah, but it didn’t ground her like it did before. Touch might not help anymore.”
“Exactly,” I say quickly.
But Talon just leans in, resting his arms over the back of my seat like he’s lounging in a throne.
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” he says, casual but calculating. “Let’s think about it logically. Lustwith fearmade her glitch. Which still counts as her powers working again by the way. But lustwith safety—”
He nods toward Cassian without looking at him.
“That calmed the glitches down. Made her control it better Just like when Cassian talked her down at the car crash. You remember that, right?”
