They ate in silence for a few moments. The room felt like a secret, a reverent hush hanging in the air.
“So,” Emma said at last, “this is unusual. Lunch with a stranger in some kind of Prohibition-era hideout.”
“Are we strangers, though?” His gaze was alert, assessing. “I know you through your writing. And I suspect you’re at least a little familiar with my work?”
She broke a piece of bread in two, neatly sidestepping the question. “Are you fishing for whether I based Lucen on you?”
“Just making conversation.” He took a sip of his wine, eyes steady on hers.
Emma gave a soft snort. “Right. So you didn’t lure me here to interrogate me?”
He tilted his head, eyes glinting. “I prefer subtler methods.”
Emma almost choked on the piece of bread. Right. She’d walked into that one. She reached for her water, taking a long, cool sip to recover.
“You know,” she said once she could breathe again, “Leah will be expecting me to ask about the role. Whether you’d be interested in playing him.”
It felt a little spineless, using Leah as a proxy. But he was already close enough to throw her off balance, and she had no desire to tip her hand.
“And Max will be expecting me to answer,” Darren said, as if on cue. “But I’d rather talk about something else.The Bonds of Light—it’s your debut, right? How did it start?”
She hesitated. The meeting was supposed to be about the casting—she’d been very firm with herself about that. But Darren clearly had other plans.
It didn’t add up. He’d set both of their fan bases spinning with hints he wanted the part. And now he was—what? Wining and dining her, as if she needed convincing? Didn’t he realize she was already halfway to handing him Lucen? Hell, she was basically an airport marshal, waving neon batons at him and clearing the runway.
Still, now she knew his manager had taken an interest. That was something, at least.
“I guess it started with boredom,” Emma said, letting herself follow his detour. “Daydreaming in debrief meetings, which is corporate code for people rambling to sound important. Just a vague idea at first, but it grew into characters, dialogue, scenes. When it got too big to hold in my head, I started writing it down.”
She shrugged lightly. “At first, it was just for me. It never felt good enough. But curiosity won, so I sent it out, and I got lucky.”
“I doubt luck had much to do with it,” he said, warmth lacing his tone.
Emma raised a brow, unconvinced. “Luck had everything to do with it. The publishing industry is brutal. Do you know how many times
J. K. Rowling was rejected?”
Darren leaned back in his chair, plate half finished and forgotten. “But I’m still glad you did. You gave people a whole world to escape to. Would’ve been a shame to keep it to yourself.”
She smiled faintly. “That’s all I ever wanted, really. To do what books and movies have always done for me—offer a moment of escape. Adventure. A place to feel everything without leaving the safety of your own bed. It’s not high literature, maybe, but it still matters. Especially for those of us who hesitate to seek it out in real life.”
He went quiet, as if absorbing her words. Something knotted low in her chest. She hadn’t meant to open up like that. Not here, not with him. He seemed to wait for more, but she’d given up too much already.
“So, yesterday at theDarkreachpanel,” she said instead, turning the tables. “The way you talked about playing Kael. It sounded...”
“Sounded what?” He cocked his head, gaze sharpening. Not unkind, just focused. It was intimidating to talk to him like this—like a peer. But she wanted to know. To understand him better.
“Like you were telling them what they wanted to hear. Not what you really felt yourself.”
He gave a short exhale. “Perceptive. Maybe I was saving the better answer for a smaller audience.”
She hesitated, but only for a moment. “I’m a smaller audience.”
Something flickered in his expression—interest, amusement, maybe both.
Darren’s fingers trailed the foot of his glass, the wine catching the light in a flash of red. He was always touching something—not restlessly, but as if to anchor himself.
“Kael’s getting...predictable. Great role, but it’s one I’ve played before.” He spoke slowly, feeling his way through the words. It made him seem more human, less like a movie star. His lips pressed together in a hard smile. “Ask everyone who says I peaked with Sebastian Vale.”
