"I think that's good," she says.
"Wait, turn to the side. One more."
She does, glancing over her shoulder at the camera, her eyes bright. "How about this?"
I swallow hard.
"Perfect."
She laughs, the sound soft and genuine, and it hits me like a punch to the chest.
I wish we could just run away.
Lay naked on some tropical island, her skin warm under my hands, the world and all its bullshit forgotten.
No Nicolae. No threats. No missions.
Just her. Just us.
She steps forward and takes the phone from my hand, her fingers brushing mine. "Thanks. I'll send them to her now. Be right back."
I nod, watching her disappear behind the curtain.
But that's not how this works. That's not how any of this works.
And as I stand there waiting for her, my hands form fists at my sides, because I know what's coming.
I know this was our last moment of quiet before everything turns to fucking chaos.
28
KERIA
It's four in the damn morning, and I can't sleep.
I've tried.
I've flipped the pillow, punched it, buried myself under the duvet, and counted backward from a hundred. Nothing.
My brain won't shut up. Too much static. I'm thinking about the gala today, about the Phantom King, about my father lying in some hospital bed in Germany with tubes keeping him alive.
About the fact that no one will tell me anything.
Ugh.
I kick off the blankets and swing my legs over the side of the bed. The floor is cold beneath my bare feet, and I put on some socks and walk out into the hallway and down the stairs.
I wrap my arms around myself and follow the faint smell of coffee into the kitchen.
Octavian stands at the counter wearing nothing but gray sweatpants that hang low on his hips, pouring steaming coffee into a mug like he's the only person awake in the world.
The overhead light casts shadows across the lines of his back muscles, the tattoos that tell stories he's never shared.
He doesn't turn around, but his voice cuts through the quiet. "What are you doing up?"
I freeze in the doorway. "How did you?—"
"Heard you on the stairs." He glances over his shoulder, his dark eyes meeting mine. "You were loud."
