“It was kind of…” I tilted my head, mouth tugging into something like a smile. “Chivalrous, actually.”
I batted my lashes at him, half teasing, half terrified of what I felt. Aran was still inside, probably torturing a man, and I was out there flirting. It didn’t make sense. None of it did. But maybe that was the point. Nothing had made sense for a long time. Nothing, except forWill.
Even in all the blood and smoke, he still felt like something solid. Like something real. And maybe, just maybe, I liked the way rage looked on him. That sharp edge beneath the quiet. That instinct to protect. It had always been there, buried beneath his gentleness.
I glanced at his face, and noticed a thin cut along his cheekbone. I don’t know how I hadn’t seen it before, maybe I’d been too caught up in everything else. My hand moved without thinking. I reached up, fingers brushing the line of his jaw as I gently cupped his face. And he didn’t recoil, he leaned into my touch. Not startled, just... aware. My palm pressed lightly over the cut, and I closed my eyes.
The glow stirred beneath my skin, faint, steady. I let it out slowly. Not rushed. Not afraid. Just... letting the light do what it wanted to. It shimmered between us, warm and soft, and in seconds the cut sealed, his skin once again soft and smooth beneath my fingertips.
“You’re getting good at that,” he said.
I met his gaze. “It’s easy when it’syou.”
Something shifted in his expression, something unspoken and dangerous. His eyes locked on mine, and for one dizzying second I thought he might kiss me.
“I lost it in there.” His voice was low, rough. “That’s not who I am. I don’t want you to see me like that.”
“And what if I liked it?”
The cold night faded around us, until it felt like there was nothing left in the world but him.
“You shouldn’t say things like that.” he breathed.
I smirked. “Why not?”
He stepped closer. Just enough for the air to shift, for my pulse to stutter.
“Because I might do something stupid.”
I tilted my face up. “Like what?”
His eyes flicked down to my mouth, and warmth rushed through me, spreading from my chest to my fingertips. His hand hovered near mine, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off his skin.
Then the door behind us creaked open, and the moment shattered.
“Am I interrupting something?”
Aran stalked forward, the door slamming shut behind him. His knuckles were split and bleeding, blood trailing down his fingers. His voice was calm, but his eyes hadn’t cooled at all.
“What did you do with him?” I asked, forcing my voice steady.
He shrugged. “Left him breathing.”
“You didn’tkillhim?”
I wasn’t sure what I expected, or what I wanted. But the disappointment must’ve shown, because Aran’s brow lifted.
“Did you want me to?”
I didn’t answer. I wasn’t sure I knew.
“No. I—I don’t know.”
Aran tilted his head, studying me. “That’s a side of you I never thought I’d see. Also never heard you curse before.”
“I’m... not okay.” The words fell out of me, like they’d been waiting in my chest, swelling and splintering until they couldn’t be held in any longer.
He let out a breath, half a laugh. “Yeah, no shit.”
