“Because you think you can manipulate me like you do the others?” I said tightly. “I’m not Leo, princess. You can’t just bat your eyes at me and get your way. The rules are in place for a reason.”
She reeled back like I’d struck her. “Unbelievable.”
“Elira—”
“You know what?” she interrupted, voice shaking. “I have doneeverythingyou’ve asked. I haven’t tried to escape, I haven’t hurt anyone, I’ve swallowed every rule you’ve thrown at me—and now, when I ask for one thing,youdecide you don’t trust me?”
I didn’t answer.
I couldn’t.
And that silence—just one heartbeat too long—was all she needed.
Her expression changed. The fury drained into something colder.
“Wow,” she whispered. “That’s it, isn’t it?”
“Elira—”
“You think I’ll run.”
I swallowed. “I know you want to. And I know you are pig-headed enough to try.”
“You don’t knowanything,” she snapped, voice edged like a blade.
“I know the king is watching you,” I said tightly. “I know you’re nowhere near ready to work in the field alone.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I wasin the fieldalone most of my life, jackass. I survived longer than most of your trainees would last out there.”
“Survived?” I scoffed. “You mean starving? Stealing? Constantly looking over your shoulder?”
“Oh, so what now—yousavedme?” she hissed. “My fuckinghero,Thorne?”
“Elira—”
“No, let me finish.” Her voice broke—but it didn’t soften. “I was actually starting to think I was wrong about you Shades. That maybe... maybeyouwere different.”
She shook her head, jaw clenched like she was holding back something sharp and dangerous.
“I thought there was something in you,” she said, voice tight, trembling with held-back hurt, “something buried under all that brooding and bullshit—that might actuallycareabout me.”
I didn’t breathe.
Just stood there, frozen, heart pounding against the inside of my ribs like it wanted to speak for me—but I said nothing.
“But you don’t,” she continued, softer now. “You never did.”
“Elira—” I tried, but it was already too late.
“No.” She turned, hand on the door. “Message received. Loud and clear.”
I exhaled—slow, sharp, controlled.
“If you leave without clearance,” I said quietly, “If you walk out without clearance,” I said low, “I will find you. And I will shut you down. You hear me?”
She turned back one last time, eyes burning with something deeper than fury.
“Fuck you, Thorne.”
