“You are very committed to making me emotional after sex.”
“I do not know what that means.”
“Liar.”
His mouth almost smiles. Almost. I touch it with my thumb. The bond hums quietly between us. No system. No City. No ledger. Only us. For a little while.
I wake later with Kavor wrapped around me and the covered bowl of broth still untouched beside the bed. Merra is going to be furious. Which is good. Let the world have small certainties.
Kavor’s wing shields me from the dim torchlight. His hand rests open against my stomach, not holding me in place. Just there. Warm-cool. Real.
I should feel exposed, but instead I feel safe.
Not because danger is gone. It’s not.
The City still trembles. The reservoir still waits below. Somewhere above Tajss, something listened and answered.
But here, in this room, I’m not useful. I’m not rationed. I’m not less.
Kavor’s lips brush my hair. “You are awake.”
“Terrible observation.”
“Yes.”
I smile. The bond warms. Outside the door, footsteps approach. Rosalind’s voice murmurs low to someone. Virn answers.
Duty is returning, but it doesn’t erase this. Nothing does. Kavor’s arm tightens slightly around me. A question. I cover his hand with mine.
“Give me one more breath,” I whisper.
He presses his mouth to my temple.
“Yes.”
And for once, I take more without apologizing.
34
SERA
Rosalind gives us six breaths.
Not five. Not seven. Six.
I count them because I’m still me, apparently, even naked under a blanket with Kavor’s arm around me and my entire body remade out of heat, ache, and terrible decisions I would very much like to repeat.
On the seventh breath, she knocks.
Once.
Polite enough to insult.
“Alive?” Rosalind asks through the door.
Kavor’s chest moves against my back. Not quite a laugh.
“Unfortunately,” I call.
