“Give her time,” I say, resting a hand on his shoulder.
“I don’t think time’s the problem,” he mutters, as he cracks a finger. “I didn’t explain it right. Said everything backwards. And now she won’t evenlookat me.”
He shrugs, defeated, and heads into the hall after her. Rowan and I follow, stepping inside and spotting Ezzy already up on the middle row. I take a step, but a hand catches my arm—Talen.The sight of him punches the air from my lungs.
He pulls me aside, and the noise of the Rec Hall instantly blurs, like someone yanked the volume down on the whole damn room.
For a second, he just holds my gaze, chest rising hard adjacent mine, and I’m right back there—remembering the other night. From the look in his eyes, so is he.
“I didn’t expect to see you so soon.” I say, aiming for casual, not sure if I hit it.
His expression shifts—shoulders tensing, eyes turning more serious.
“I’m assisting in today’s class, and I wanted to talk to you first.” He rakes a hand through his hair, then turns slightly, gaze skimming the wall behind me instead of my face. “I wanted tocheck we were okay. That you didn’t read into the other night. I’m not built for… love.”
I blink. I’m not looking for flowers and vows, but still. It stings. Just a little. But I bury it before it can surface. Because this thing, whatever it is, isn’t about feelings. It’s not about emotion. And I sure as hell don’t want him thinking it is, especially if it keeps him away. I’m not trying to hold his heart, I want his hands, His mouth. That fucking dangerous body back between my thighs. I want a distraction, not a damn devotion. So I make myself clear.
“Who said anything about love?” I say, shifting my weight, arms folding. “Don’t flatter yourself. It was one night. Maybe I just needed an itch scratched.” A shrug, careless, weaponised. “Plus I’mnotstupid enough to fall for a man whose game I still don’t understand.”
“Good.” His gaze turns back to me. “So we agree?”
“Sure,” I say, one brow arched in suggestion. “We keep it physical. Functional allies… with very effective benefits.”
His jaw flexes. “No. I’m supposed to be protecting you, Lyra, not fucking you. Intimacy muddies decisions,” he adds. “And I can’t afford that.”
I tilt my head. “So what? Just act like it never happened? Back to playing pretend, fake date, eyes forward, no touching?”
“It’s best for both of us.”
“Right,” I murmur, voice dropping a shade darker. “We won’t do it again. Fleeting moment. A mistake.”
His eyes lock on mine like he’s trying to pin me in place. “Fine. If that’s what you want to call it.”
No, I don't want to call it that; it wasn’t a mistake. Not when every part of me still remembers how his mouth tasted—fire and smoke and the soft catch of his breath when I scraped my nails along his back.
“We both know it wasn’t a mistake,” I push.
“Lyra…” His tone softens, warning, almost pleading.
I glance over towards Ezzy, then back at him. I don’t want to give him any more time to convince himself it was a mistake. I want him back in my bed. “I’m not arguing about this. Not here. Not now.”
His jaw flexes. “We need to talk about it at some point.”
“Well, good luck with that.” I turn before he can answer, and walk straight toward Ezzy, fast, steady, pretending my pulse isn’t still wrecked from just hearing my name on his lips.
As I slide into the seat next to Rowan, Talen steps on to the mat. Black training gear, sleeves rolled, every line of him coiled and controlled. He doesn’t raise his voice. Doesn’t have to. One slow curl of his fingers, barely a gesture, and the entire Rec Hall drops into silence like the air’s been sucked out of the room.
“Professor Strannt’s been called to the Outerlands,” he says, scanning the room once. “As such, I’ll be assisting for the next few weeks.” A pause as he drops his hand and releases our voices. “Now, first off, I wanted to congratulate you all. The fact that you’re sitting here? You’ve already made it further than most. Call Week. Demonstrations. All of it’s designed to break you, not teach you. Look around. Only the strongest are still breathing.” He paces, arms crossed now. “But your next challenge is the Second-year Trials, eight weeks from now, summer term. It'll come fast. As such, effective immediately, Demonstrations are over. We’re shifting to live combat drills and controlled power work. No more killing each other.”
God, these fucking Citadel rules. Kill off the weak so they don’t waste time training anyone who won’t make it. Fucked-up system, and the worst part? It works.
Talen drops his arms to his waist and turns until his gaze finds mine. “Cadet Bloom.”Eyes narrow. Smile doesn’t follow. “Mat. Now.”
I pause, just for a second. Half-expecting this to be a joke, but one look at his face tells me it’s not. He’s serious.
What’s his plan? Does he think throwing me in a chokehold is gonna make me admit we made a mistake the other night?
A few cadets start shifting, heads swivelling in quiet interest towards me.Great. I'm not turning this into a scene. So I stand, shoulders stiff, and make my way down.
