"Good," he grinned. "It means you're starting to accept some impossible to you facts."
I stared at him. He looked infuriatingly composed. Shadows clung to him like they belonged there; light caught the planes of his face in a way that felt unfair. Devastating was the only word that came close, close enough to make my headache worse.
"So," I closed my eyes with a sigh. "In human terms."
"A few of your days," he relented. "Unless something interferes."
"Something always interferes," I muttered.
That earned me the ghost of a smile.
We stood there for a moment, the hum of the ship filling the space between us. It felt… different now. Less like I was trapped with him. More like we were moving forward together, whether I was ready to admit that or not.
"So this Aelyth thing," I glanced at him sidelong. "You don't believe in it?"
He turned fully toward me then. "I believe in it."
I blinked. "Huh. You still don't sound thrilled."
"I'm not."
That made me laugh before I could stop myself. A real laugh, short, surprised, and a little sharp around the edges. "You're telling me there's this cosmic balancing bond, supposedly the thing your entire species has been missing, and you're… grumpy about it?"
His eyes narrowed. "Careful."
"Oh no," I was grinning now. "I've already been kidnapped, mind-invaded, and star-mapped. I think I've earnedcareless."
Something dark and dangerous flickered across his expression, but underneath it was something else. Interest. Challenge.
An idea occurred to me. "Are you afraid it'll take your free will?"
He didn't answer right away. When he did, his voice was lower. "It already has."
That sent a shiver straight down my spine. I held his gaze, and my pulse quickened. "That doesn't sound like a belief problem," I said. "That sounds like a control problem."
His mouth curved slightly. Not a smile. Something sharper. "You enjoy testing me."
I shrugged. "You don't mind being tested. You just don't like not controlling the results."
The air between us tightened. Charged. Not hostile, anticipatory.
"You think this puts you in control?" he asked.
I tilted my head, studying him openly now, letting myself feel the pull instead of fighting it for once. "I think," I explained carefully, "that you're used to being the most dangerous thing in the room. And suddenly, you're not sure if that's still true."
A moment passed.
Then another.
His gaze dropped, not to my eyes, but to my mouth. Just for a second. It was enough.
"Be careful, Nadine," he warned quietly. "You're closer to the edge than you realize."
I stepped closer. Not touching. Not yet. Close enough to feel the heat of him, the strange calm that seemed to radiate from my chest when I was near him.
"Funny," I murmured. "I was about to say the same thing to you."
For a moment, neither of us moved. The ship surged gently around us, reality folding in ways I still didn't fully understand. Somewhere ahead waited Cronack. Nythor. The Abyss.
