Leo tilted his head, all sunshine and mischief. “Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to.”
Slade reached for one, inspecting it with quiet approval. “She won’t miss.”
“Not if I have anything to do with it.” Leo grinned.
Thorne nodded once, his gaze unreadable. “Nice find. They’ll serve her well.”
I slid the knives into the new sheath at my hip, settling them beside the dagger.
One stayed in my palm, the weight oddly comforting — more than I cared to admit.
Leo’s gesture had hit harder than I expected.
“I used to practice throwing blades at the ruins,” I said, tracing a finger along one of the curved hilts. “I wasn’t too bad.”
Leo’s eyes lit up like I’d handed him the biggest gift. “That is so hot,” he said, flashing a feline grin.
Phoenix snorted beside me, muttering something under his breath about hopeless romantics.
I didn’t mean to — but I laughed. Not the polite kind, not forced. A real laugh, quick and sudden, slipping free before I could catch it.
The four men slowed around me, turning to stare like I’d done something extraordinary.
And for the first time, I smiled — not at all of them, but at the strange, reckless Shade who had somehow, impossibly, worked his way under my skin.
“Thank you,” I said, meeting Leo’s eyes.
He winked, casual and cocky—but there was warmth there too, buried just beneath the swagger.
“Anytime, angel.”
We wandered the market a while longer, the mix of spices and sizzling meat making my stomach betray me with a loud grumble. Thorne heard it, of course, and shot me a sideways glance before veering toward a nearby stall with Leo to grab food.
Drawn by the scent of fresh bread, I drifted toward another vendor just across the way. Phoenix followed with easy steps, already fishing out coins, while Slade lingered behind us, never too close—but never out of sight.
As Phoenix spoke with the vendor, a strange tingle crawled up the back of my neck. All the fine hairs there lifted at once.
My eyes pulled instinctively toward a darkened gap in the stalls that opened up toward the docks. Narrow alleyways branched off from the wharf like veins, disappearing behind stacks of hulking metal containers. It was colder there. Heavier. The dull sun touched everything else, but that stretch remained cloaked in shadow.
Slade was still there, hovering at the edge of my vision. But the unease didn’t fade.
I scanned the darkness, heart beginning to pick up its pace. My skin prickled with that primal, unmistakable feeling.
Someone was watching me.
It was like the shadows themselves were warning me. Yet still, I took a step, drawn in as if something tugged at a string inside my chest.
It wasn’t just curiosity. It waspull.
The shadows whispered my name.
Elira…
My eyes locked on the alleyway where the light refused to go.
Was that a figure?
“Finn?” I whispered, barely loud enough to carry.
