I huff out a breath. “How do you look at me then?”
He doesn’t answer with words. But the way he steps closer, slow and deliberate, speaks volumes. My back brushes the stone wall, and I don’t remember moving. We’re too close now. Breath-close. I can feel the warmth of him, the quiet power just beneath his skin. The way the tether between us tries to pull taut. It craves the connection between us.
And still, he doesn’t touch me.
But God, I want him to.
“You scare the shit out of me,” I admit. “Not because I think you’ll hurt me. But because when you look at me like that…” My throat tightens. “I start to feel like you see through all of it. Like you already know the parts of me I haven’t figured out yet.”
His eyes darken, but not with anger. Something deeper. Warmer.
“I hate that I can’t protect you from what’s coming,” he murmurs. “But I’d still fight every damn thing that tries.”
I sway forward, just slightly. Like my body’s no longer listening to my brain.
His hand lifts—tentative, careful—until his fingers hover just near my cheek. One more breath and?—
“Well, this looks like a bad idea in progress,” Kael drawls from somewhere beside us.
We spring apart like we’ve been caught doing something illicit. I don’t even have to look to know he’s smirking, shadows coiling lazily at his feet like they’re just as amused as he is.
I flinch, my shoulder hitting the wall. Raiden exhales through his nose, slow and controlled, like he’s pulling every feeling back into place. Kael stands a few paces away, his expression unreadable, arms crossed, wings barely tucked behind him. His eyes glow as they flick between us.
Raiden straightens, jaw tight. “You following us now?”
Kael shrugs, sauntering closer with all the casual menace of a wolf who’s already tasted blood. “Didn’t have to. Your pheromones were practically drawing a map, shifter.”
My cheeks flare, but I hold his stare. “What do you want, Kael?”
“I could ask you the same,” he says, gaze flicking toward Raiden. “Didn’t realize we were having secret confessionals about our feelings now. Should’ve brought popcorn. Could’ve been entertaining.”
Raiden shifts his weight, not rising to the bait, but not backing down either. “We’re not your entertainment.”
Kael tilts his head, mock-thoughtful. “A shame. You’d make a compelling tragedy.”
I step forward before Raiden can react, planting myself between them. “Seriously, Kael. Why are you here?”
His gaze drops to me. Lingers. “Because the last time you brushed up against Veil magic, the fabric of reality started to fray the next day. So I’ll stay close.”
“I didn’t ask you to watch me.”
“No,” he says softly. “You didn’t.”
There’s something in his voice that scrapes against my ribs. It’s real and way too honest. It throws me for half a second. I don’t know what to say to that, so I default to anger.
“Well, I’m fine. You can go now.”
Kael’s mouth twitches, not quite a smile, not quite a sneer. “If you were fine, you wouldn’t be out here alone with him looking like you’re one whispered secret away from unraveling.”
I open my mouth to fire back, but Raiden cuts in, stepping closer. “Enough.”
Kael’s eyes snap to him, amused again. “Touchy.”
“You’re just pissed you didn’t get here first,” Raiden says.
It’s meant to be a dig, but Kael only laughs. A quiet, dangerous sound. “Trust me,firstwas never the goal.”
That does something weird to my stomach. Another beat of silence stretches between us, thick with things none of us are saying.
