He shook his head, like he knew how odd it sounded, then dragged a hand through his hair. When he looked back up, there was no confusion left, just acceptance. Quiet. Certain.
“I know what this is,” he said under his breath. “I know how this ends.”
His eyes flicked away for a moment, toward nothing in particular, like he could already see it playing out. Everything about it was too fast, too fragile, something that was slipping through his fingers before he even had a chance to hold onto it.
Then he looked back at me.
“But I still want it,” he admitted, his smile sad. “However long it lasts.”
The room felt smaller. My chest grew tighter the more he talked.
“Maybe that’s enough,” he added, softer now, sounding lost in thought.
The hope in his eyes hit harder than anything else he’d said. It lodged somewhere deep, sharp and slow, like it didn’t belong there but wasn’t going anywhere either. This big knot of emotions sat on my chest, waiting to explode.
Suddenly, my mind snapped back to the incident in the car. The tear falling, the way my magic had… failed. Almost like it couldn’t touch her.
Which was impossible. I was the fourth top-ranked mage. My magic was strong, so it couldn’t be an issue with my magic unless?—
My entire body went rigid, thoughts circling in loops until catching on the same point over and over until everything else blurred out.
No. There was no way. She was just?—
A hand landed on my shoulder, squeezing lightly.
I blinked, dragged back to the room, to see Calix smiling at me, completely unaware of the storm in my head.
“Either way,” he said, “it’d be nice to find out, right?”
My eyes widened. Did I say what I was thinking out loud?
He tilted his head, brows pinching. “You know, see if she’d evenwantto work at FangTech. I think I could convince her, but…” He winced. “There’s still a chance she tells me to fuck off. I think she has an aversion to supes.”
No shit.
After everything she’d been through? After whatever Manshu had dragged her into? Of course she did. Of course she’d be cautious, but that didn’t change what I needed to do.
I needed to see her again. Needed to test it. Because if that wasn’t a fluke….
Calix’s attention shifted, already moving on. He turned back toward the blade, the moment passing like it hadn’t carved straight through me.
“I’ll be down here a few more hours,” he said, rolling his shoulders as he stepped toward it. “Got a few ideas I want to try before I crash.”
He glanced over his shoulder, grin flashing briefly. “You, on the other hand, look like shit. Go get some sleep. And don’t worry—I won’t cut myself again.”
Now that he has something to look forward to.
I heard the words he didn’t say, feeling them settle heavily in my soul.
Still, I nodded and forced my legs to move, to get up and go out the door.
The doors shut, and the hallway felt too quiet after the chaos of the lab. Each step echoed as I moved toward the elevator, the weight in my chest growing heavier with every second.
The doors slid shut with a soft hiss, and just like that, I was alone.
I dragged a hand down my face, my breath shaky. The elevator began to move, and all I could do was stare at my reflection in the metal doors.
I didn’t know if I was making the right call here. Didn’t know if staying quiet just now was a mistake I wouldn’t be able to fix later.
