“And you’ve used it...” a pause, “on me?” I ask, even though I already know. The answer’s written all over his face.
“Yes.” He closes his eyes.
My mouth goes dry. “When?”
He exhales through his nose then opens his eyes and looks at me. “In the tunnels, when I found you trying to escape... andduring the body search. Then, after Ezzy, when I kissed you. I turned down your fear. Your anger. I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. I needed to sell a lie, I needed you not to run, or kick me in the balls...”
My chest pulls tight. “So you made me… what? Want you?”
“No,” he leans up a little, like it matters that I hear him right. “No, I didn’tmakeyou feel anything. I can’t do that. I just gave space to what was already there.”
“And in the courtyard?” I ask. “When we first met?”
He groans, rubbing his face again. “You were so damn feisty, and I just—fuck, it was fun messing with you. I nudged it. Just… took the edge off your fire. A little.Barely. But I obviously didn’t do it enough as you still nearly blew me, nearly blew yourself up, when you realised I was a Veirmont.”
I narrow my eyes. “You absolute asshole.”
“I know.”
I knew something was off. I knew it was strange my body was so drawn to him in those situations, that I should have been leading with anger, but he’d turned it down so only my attraction to him came through.
God, that’s why they call him theNightrose, he can literally fool you into feeling safe around him, you wouldn’t even feel the petals close in until it’s too late.
A flush creeps up my neck, the realisation that all this time he knew all this time how I was physically feeling about him.
I want to snap at him. I want to say something sharp. But... he's not smug about it. If anything, he looks guilty, like he’s been dreading this conversation. I should be furious. And maybe I will be. But right now, lying here with nothing between us, him finally telling me something—I just feel the weight of it. Heavy and complicated.
And then it hits me, low in my stomach. “The kiss in Ashvale? After the ball, now?”
A crooked grin tugs at the corner of his mouth “No. Sorry, that’s all you.”
“You sure?” My voice wavers. “Because if you’re still?—”
“Look, yes, in Quinn’s class the other week I sent you those feelings,my feelings,and you’re welcome by the way.” His grin widens, then more serious. “But changingyouremotions, I’ve not done that since I kissed you after Ezzy’s Demonstration” He exhales, and a single Truth String floats out from his mouth, landing lightly against my chest.
I watch it settle. My heart aches.
“I believe you,” I whisper. “I didn’t need the String.”
“I did,” he says softly. “I needed you to know for sure. I should’ve told you sooner, but with everything... and then finding out about this bond between us... I didn’t know how much would be too much. I was waiting for a better time.”
His eyes meet mine. “Do you hate me?”
The question is quiet. Like it hurts to ask.
I stare at him. At the regret in his voice. At the way he’s finally laid something down between us.
“I get it.” I sigh. “You were trying to protect me. I probablywould’vekicked you in the balls, or something worse, and I probably would have been Reassigned shortly after... so no, I don’t hate you.”
The smile that breaks across his face isn’t his usual one—it’s softer, almost disbelieving, and maybe a little fragile. Relief runs through it like an exhale he’s been holding too long, and it hits something low in my chest. I can’t help it. I lean in and kiss him—just a brush, light, meant to sayit’s fine, but my weight shifts with the movement, and he catches it, hands sliding to my hips as he rolls me easily on top of him.
His fingers slide into my hair, pushing it gently back from where it's fallen around us as my hand rests by the birthmark just above his heart.
“Lyra, do you know how beautiful you are?” he says, quiet and rough. “God, I’ve wanted to say that for so long.”
His eyes hold mine—open, unguarded, a little undone—but then they drop, darkening as they trail over the bare lines of my body, straddling his. Then his other hand slides up my thigh and I can feel him, already getting hard beneath me.
“Okay,” I murmur, leaning down, lips brushing his, “I have so many more, but right now I’m done asking questions,”
