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He was chasing me for something. I just don’t know what.

For the first time, I find myself wanting to tell Ciaran everything, but a part of me is still that frightened kid keeping watch over his shoulder and telling himself that if he stays quiet long enough, nobody can hurt him.

The problem is that I still don’t know whether I can trust him.

I try shifting upright, only for pain to slam through the back of my head hard enough that a rough grunt escapes me.

“Easy.” Ciaran’s hand tightens automatically against my jaw before his gaze finally shifts past me toward the Noctis sitting in the darkness. “What the hell is that doing down here?”

“So I’m not hallucinating?”

“No, mouse.” His eyes stay fixed on the instrument. “I’m pretty sure that’s real. Question is, why the hell was it hidden down here?”

“I don’t know.” Unease curls in my stomach as I stare back at the Noctis half-hidden in the darkness, but before I can say anything else, Ciaran wraps one arm firmly around my waist and hauls me upright.

Pain flares through my ankle and I grunt against his throat as I unwillingly wrap my arms around him for balance, hard muscle shifting beneath my hands even through the leather jacket.

“Easy,” he rumbles. “I guess we’re solving the mystery of the haunted underground Noctis another time. Come on; let’s get you out of here.”

I barely manage one limping step before my ankle buckles completely beneath me.

Before I can protest again, Ciaran hooks one arm beneath my knees and lifts me clean off the floor.

“What the hell—” I gasp, clutching instinctively at his shoulders. “Did you just pick me up?”

Ciaran chuckles against my hair. “Yeah, you’re my bride now, baby mouse. Now shut up so I can drag you back to my evil lair.”

Heat rushes instantly into my face, but despite everything, relief slowly loosens the tight knot in my chest as he carries me up the staircase and out of the dark chamber behind us.

At the top of the stairs, he finally sets me on my feet, keeping one arm firmly wrapped around my waist. “Try not to die before I get you back to bed. It’d ruin my evening.”

As we step back out into the cold night air together, my chin tucked near his throat while warm leather presses against my cheek and his body shields me from the storm, my gaze immediately searches the rooftop corridor for the masked man. But the terrace is empty. No footsteps. No trace of him anywhere.

Instead of reassuring me, the sight only makes my stomach tighten.

“How did you even find me?”

Ciaran snorts. “Little mouse, after your little adventure in the city, did you honestly think I wasn’t tracking your multi-slate?”

My head jerks up. “You what?”

“Relax. You’re welcome.”

The idea should probably bother me more than it does. It certainly reminds me that whatever is happening between us, Ciaran still has his own agenda.

Don’t trust him.

But it’s hard to hold on to that thought when he came looking for me. When he found me. When he got me out of there.

Ciaran’s skin feels unbearably warm beneath my hands, hard muscle shifting beneath the black jacket every time he moves, and I hate myself for noticing any of it right now.

Above us, storm clouds still hang low above Caervast while distant planets glow faintly beyond them in the dark sky overhead.

For a second, I tilt my head back and just stare at them.

“Tomorrow,” Ciaran murmurs as we cross the rooftop terrace, “you’re going to tell me what the hell you were doing down there.”

I let out a tired sound somewhere between a laugh and a groan. “No, I won’t.”