“Are you okay? Did he touch you... did he hurt you?”
I should tell him to go to hell. After everything, after this entire cursed day, he doesn’t get to walk in here and act like he’s the one who gets to be worried. But the way he’s looking at me… Beneath the squared shoulders, the stillness, the measured stance, is panic—raw and unmistakable.
I don’t want to answer, but my mouth opens before I can stop it. “I'm fine.”
The tightness in his posture releases all at once, and he exhales—long, unsteady—and for a second I think that’s it. That he’s going to leave it there. But then his expression twists, and it’s something else entirely.
Anger, but not like before, not the cold, restrained fury he turned on Professor Strannt. This is different. There’s heat behind it now, rough around the edges, like it got pulled out too fast and he doesn’t know how to sheath it again. And it’s aimed at me.
“Do not,” he snaps, “put yourself in danger like that again.”
What the fuck?
Who does he think he is?
I should tell him to go to hell. Should let him stew in whatever saviour complex just dragged him in here like a storm. Caring is one thing. But turning that fury on me, like I’m the one who crossed a line?
I could turn and walk out now, shut the door on all of this before I start asking questions and he says something I can’t un-hear. But no. Not yet. Not until I get the truth. My hands curl into fists before I even realise I’ve moved.
“You don’t get to stand there and be angry with me,” I snap, voice cracking sharp against the stone. “I didnothingwrong.”
He flinches, just barely, but I don’t stop. Can’t. The words scrape out before I can shove them down.
“You’re a monster, you’re just like them. Likehim.”I jerk my chin toward the door Weasel Senior just disappeared through. “God, I’m such an idiot. You Innerlanders are all the same.”
Something in Talen’s face cracks, fast. Like a punch landed. His mouth opens but at first nothing comes out.Then his eyes narrow, gaze dropping to my uniform.
“You might want to check what’s on your own back,Thorn,” he taunts. “Because right now, you and I don’t look that different.” He steps in closer, the scent of smoke and leather curling off him, heavy and impossible to ignore. “You thinkyourpeople are so innocent in this? Didn’t ask Bren about the attacks, did you? Outerlanders aren’t just hitting Citadel guards or officers anymore, civilians are getting caught in it.Innocentcivilians who had nothing to do with any of this.”
My mouth parts as I stare him down, waiting for the twist. The smirk. Anything that says he’s just trying to mess with my head. He’s lying. Has to be.
“They wouldn’t—” The words almost slip, but I bite them back. Not civilians. Not unless they were provoked. Unless someone made the first move.
Talen shakes his head, “You’ve seen it. You know, not everyone here is as evil as you want to believe. Ezzy. Finn. Rowan. They’re Innerlanders, are they your enemies too? Monsters? Would they deserve to die?”
“If you want me to think you’re not evil, then why did you take him? He... he was a father.” My voice cracks, splinters down the centre. “And you were taking him to be Reassigned, to die. He didn't deserve that, you said you had no evidence.” My fists shake, throat tightening so fast I can barely breathe around it.
“Fuck,Lyra. No. I wasn’t,” his voice is hoarse, like it took something out of him just to say it. “He wasn’t being Reassigned.” He turns, hand dragging hard through his hair, and his breath leaves in a punch—tight and uneven, like it’s been sitting in his chest for days “But he will be now.”
What? What the hell does that mean—he wasn’t, but he will be now?
When he faces me again, whatever he was holding on to, whatever fight or fury or bullshit posture he’d been hiding behind, it’s gone.
Just like that.
It drops out of him, and what's left isn't anger, it's hollow. Shoulders slack, eyes duller than they should be. Not broken, not dramatic. Just… like he doesn’t have anything left to put between us.
I search his eyes and something twists in my gut. Not fear. Not doubt. Just a stark realisation… The baker, when he opened the door, he was nervous, yeah. But not surprised, he wasn’t scared. Didn’t run. He didn’t start thrashing until Strannt grabbed him.
That’swhen the panic hit.
That’swhen he fought.
Because Talen wasn’t there to Reassign him. He was taking him somewhere else. Somewhere hewantedto go.
And I got in the way.
Oh god.
