Gods. The room suddenly felt too small. Too warm. I became painfully aware of the way his eyes tracked every tiny movement I made. And worse, how badly some reckless part of me wanted to cross the small distance between us to see what would happen if I touched him.
Absolutely not.
I straightened my shoulders. I was not going to tell him about the rebellion or Kael’Varyn. Or why I had come to Earth. Trust got people killed.
“You first,” I shot back softly.
Something almost amused flickered across his face. He looked even more devastating when he did that, and I didn't even want to consider what he would look like if he outright smiled.
Ella looked between us with growing fascination.
“Oh my God,” Ashley muttered suddenly. “You two are doing the eye thing again.”
“We are not doing athing,” I contradicted immediately.
“At all,” Thyros agreed at the exact same moment.
Ashley pointed between us dramatically. “That. Right there.”
Nadine stared at us thoughtfully. “The physiological synchronization is actually fascinating.”
“Do not encourage them,” Zapharos warned flatly.
Too late. Ella was openly grinning now.
“You know,” she tried to sound innocent, “most people buy each other dinner before staring like they’re about to start a war or kiss.”
Heat flashed straight through me. Next to me, Thyros went unnaturally still. Which somehow felt far more dangerous than movement.
“I’m still deciding if I like him,” I informed her coolly.
Thyros’ eyes darkened instantly.
“Liar,” he said quietly.
Oh, great Abyss, please take me.It wasn't what he said, but how he said it. The single word slid through me like a blade wrapped in silk. The bond between us tightened sharply enough to steal my breath.
Nadine, apparently deciding emotional chaos had gone on long enough, cleared her throat loudly.
“Returning to the terrifying cosmic mystery,” she announced. “You clearly know more about Ashera and Caelor than you’re admitting.”
She was right. I did know the names. Everyone in the Temple did. The First Pair. The Star-Bound. The ancient gods from whom all Gifts supposedly descended. Children were raised on stories of Ashera’s wisdom and Caelor’s strength. Of their descent from the heavens. Of the war that split the stars themselves. Myths.
Only now I wasn’t entirely sure they were myths at all. Because just like Nadine had said, what were the odds that two superpowers, who had never heard of one another, knew the same mythic names?
That realization unsettled me more than I wanted to admit.
Ella leaned forward slightly. “Who were they in your stories?”
I hesitated, then answered carefully. “The first blessed beings.”
Ashley blinked. “That sounds ominous.”
“It was meant to sound holy,” I corrected dryly.
Nadine’s eyes sharpened instantly. “And?”
I exhaled slowly. “The stories say they came from the stars before recorded history.” My gaze drifted briefly toward Thyros before I could stop it. “That they carried light and darkness equally within them.” My mouth twisted faintly. “The Temple taught us that humanity inherited fragments of their gifts.”
