He just laughed.
Maddox’s gaze landed on me. “You need anything, menace?”
I shook my head. “I’m good. Better than good.” They had no idea what it meant to have Poppy here.
“You know where to find us if you need muscle or bail money,” Mason joked. At least I hoped it was a joke.
My eyes rolled as their footsteps retreated down the hallway, gradually fading until silence reclaimed the space.
As soon as we were alone, Poppy launched straight into rapid-fire updates, words tumbling out of her like she’d been holding them in for days. School drama, cafeteria disasters, and a teacher meltdown—normal stuff. Blessedly normal.
My mouth stretched into a real smile, one that didn’t wobble on its way up. Just listening to her ramble eased the tight achiness in my chest. My body actually unwound, sinking into the mattress.
She didn’t push. Didn’t ask about the obvious gaping hole in my last two weeks. The kidnapping. The auction. The bruises still hiding beneath my sleeves. She gave me soft-landing topics, ones I could hold without breaking. God, I loved her for that.
A twitch of motion snagged at the edge of my vision, a quiet shift in the doorway.
I turned my head…and there he was.
Kreed leaned one shoulder against the door frame, posture deceptively relaxed, but his gaze was anything but. Storm-gray eyes locked on me like I was the only real thing in the room. Heat prickled up the back of my neck. My lungs forgot their cues.
I swallowed and offered him a small, tentative smile, my walls lowering, vulnerable in a way I didn’t let just anyone see. Then I mouthed across the hallway, “Thank you.”
For bringing Poppy here.
For knowing what I needed before I did.
For still being close enough to reach even when everything else felt uncertain.
His gaze held mine, longer than was polite, longer than Poppy would ever let me hear the end of, and something flickered across his face. The faintest shift of his jaw, the slightest softening around the eyes, and a ghost of a smile tugging at his lips.
Before I could decode any of it, he pushed off the frame and disappeared into his room, leaving the door cracked.
Poppy let out a low whistle. “So that’s still a thing, huh?”
Heat rushed to my face. “I told Kreed I loved him.”
Her eyes nearly bugged out of her skull. “I’m sorry, you did what?”
“That was basically his reaction too,” I groaned, tucking pieces of my hair behind my ears.
“Oh, Kaylor.” She flopped dramatically on her belly. “Don’t tell me you fell for a Corvo.”
I joined her, stretching out on the bed. “Trust me, I didn’t mean to. It just happened.”
“That’s what they all say. It’s the Raven lure. They’re like male sirens.”
“You mean tritons?”
Her brows furrowed. “Is that what they’re called. God, why does that fucking fit them?”
It was so damn nice to be hanging out with Poppy again. “Because they’re not human.”
Poppy nudged my shoulder with hers. “So…you love him, huh?”
I stared down at where my fingers twisted in the blanket. “I tried not to fall for him. I really did.”
“The heart wants what the heart wants.” She sighed dramatically.
