He yells after me, laughing. “Even with a broken leg, I’d still ski with you.”
“Your psychosis is showing, Markev,” I shout back.
I reach the bottom and slow to a stop just as he comes up on me and wraps his arms around my waist.
“Fuck’s sake,” I say, startled, my hand flying to my chest.
He doesn’t let go, he presses his face into my hair and inhales deeply.
My chest seizes.
What happened between us since we came here has shifted something.
Something deeper than just the physical closeness.
Something I refuse to name.
I feel guilty for enjoying it.
Guilty for how natural his arms feel around me.
Guilty for how seen he makes me feel.
He is still my sworn enemy. His name alone should be enough to keep me distant.
And yet my heart and my mind are at war.
Adelaide’s voice reaches me. “Last run before they close the lift.”
I pull away before he can say anything and take my seat on the lift as we head back up, letting the cold bite hard to burn some of the confusion out of me.
Months ago, if you had told me I would be sharing space, with Markev, I would have laughed in your face.
Now it feels… disturbingly normal.
And fuck how much I hate myself for admitting that once we return to the academy, things will have to go back to how they were.
And deep down, I don’t want them to.
Disgust churns through me.
I take a deep breath and push off again, dropping back down the slope.
What I really want is to scream at the top of my lungs.
Why.
Why him.
A Markev, of all the people walking this earth.
Chapter 39
Octavia
After our final run, we meet at the base and make our way to the cars, my cheeks flushed, adrenaline still humming in my veins.
The drive back to the chalet is quiet… heavy with exhaustion.
