“I’ve walked past that room a thousand times. I don’t look at it the way you do.” His eyes flicked to mine, softening. “You make me notice things I’ve stopped seeing. It’s…beautiful.”
I leaned into his shoulder, letting his heat seep through my dress. It reminded me of all those nights ago when he’d dragged me into his lap to keep me warm. When I’d hated him for it and enjoyed it anyway.
Now I wanted more—needed more. His skin on mine and his breath at my neck. Mouth, tongue, hands. I wanted his strength pinning me underneath him. The craving was bottomless, terrifying, and I’d shatter if he didn’t touch me soon.
Was this what real love felt like? This delirious hunger that followed me through every waking moment?
Kairos glanced at me, his eyes sharp. He looked like he was one heartbeat away from pulling me into his lap after all. A muscle jumped in his cheek, then he cleared his throat, tearing his gaze away.
“Where did you learn to climb?” he asked. “I’ve been wondering for weeks.”
I blinked, my thoughts sluggish. “What?”
“Climbing. How did you learn?”
Oh gods, he knew. Those damned fae senses, picking up the shameful things my body screamed at him. Should I be grateful or disappointed that he’d changed the subject?
I exhaled shakily. “There were these abandoned buildings behind the market. Rheya and I used to run on the rooftops. We’d scale broken walls, jump between ledges. The guards never looked up, so we were safe there.”
“You weren’t afraid of heights?”
“No, I loved it. This one slate building in the slums had a perfect view of the merchant quarter. I’d sit there and watch.”
“What were you looking for?”
I shrugged. “The horses. Gilded bridles woven with flowers, carriages that looked like jewelry boxes. Fae nobles gliding out of homes.”
He smiled. “A child with nothing, finding beauty in a city that gave her none.”
My chest tightened. “It was something to do.”
“You deserve more than watching other people’s lives.”
“It wasn’t so bad,” I ground out.
“When this is over, I’ll bring you to places that don’t need rooftops to be beautiful.”
Nothing this good ever lasted. I’d learned that lesson time and time again—the world had a way of taking what I wanted the most.
“Where exactly?” I asked.
“Lunir. The whole realm runs on illusion runes. You’ll walk down a street at dusk and the cobbles glow sapphire beneath your feet. By midnight, they’ve shifted to gold. The bridges twist themselves into new shapes every hour—arches, spirals, things that shouldn’t hold weight but do. There’s a market where the stalls sell memories. You can buy the feeling of your first kiss, or the smell of a place you’ve never been.”
I sighed. “That soundslovely.”
“It is. And there’s a waterfall in Caelir, blue water that falls straight from the sky onto a field of clouds.”
I smiled, imagining it. “I'd love to see that.”
“I'll take you when this is over.”
I let myself picture it—glowing streets, impossible bridges, waterfalls on clouds. But the image kept fracturing. Barra burning on one side, and a thousand years of throats cut to feed a seal on the other. Which nightmare was I supposed to stop?
My heart ached. “Maybe.”
He frowned. “Maybe?”
“I don’t like to make plans, Kairos.”
