Page 148 of A Reign of Chromes & Shadows

She obeyed instantly; trusting him without hesitation.

Rain felt the weight of that trust like a hand pressed gently to his chest.

It humbled him.

It softened something inside him he hadn’t realised had gone rigid.

Trust had never come easily to him.

Not from others.

Not toward others.

Not even toward himself.

Most people flinched around him, even when they tried to hide it.

They feared what he could do.

What he had done.

What he might do if he slipped.

But Scarlet…

Scarlet didn’t flinch.

She didn’t hesitate.

She didn’t brace herself for pain.

She simply placed her hands in his and closed her eyes.

Like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Rain swallowed hard, a quiet ache blooming behind his ribs.

How could someone who had been locked away, starved, neglected, and burned by her own power still trust so easily? How could they still look at the world with hopeinstead of suspicion?

He guided her through slow breaths, muscle by muscle, feeling her tension melt beneath his palms. Her energy shifted, loosening and expanding before settling into something soft and open. She slipped into a meditative state with surprising ease, as though her mind had been waiting for someone to show her how to rest.

She glowed in the moonlight, looking serene, regal and whole.

Rain felt a tug in his chest.

A glimpse of who she could become.

Who she deserved to be.

Who she should have been allowed to be all along.

And it hurt, in a quiet, aching way because he recognised that same stolen childhood in himself.

The same forced maturity.

The same fear of hurting others.

The same desperate need for control.