Her eyes dart behind me. “Yeah,” she says. “I’m good.”
I can scent her, though—that subtle, rich, sweet smell. She isn’t fooling me, even if she thinks she can with her dull human senses.
“I hope you got some rest,” I add.
“Been trying to rest and recuperate,” she says. “Eager to get back to the lab though. You got my results from the clinic? All looked good, right?”
“Yes,” I nod. “As soon as we’re back to work, we’ll cross-index them with your vitals from when you were wearing the device.”
We stand there for a moment. I have no idea what to say…Lyn, for once, doesn’t either.
“We’re going to get noodles,” Solvi says. “You should come.”
Lyn blinks.
She looks at Solvi. Then at me. Then back at Solvi again, as if trying to determine whether this is a polite social nicety or an actual summons that cannot be refused without consequence.
“Oh—” she says. “I don’t want to intrude.”
“You’re not intruding,” Solvi says immediately. “You’re invited.”
“That would be quite unusual,” I interject. “Lyn probably has?—”
“Baba, I don’t just want to hang out with you all summer,” Solvi says. “Maybe Lyn could tell me what it’s like to be a student in Mythara? I mean—you’re great and all, but you talk about stuff like you think I don’t get it.”
Lyn’s lips curve in a smirk. I’d never noticed how red they are…how full.
I am a monster.
“He does kind of talk like that, doesn’t he?” Lyn teases.
“I don’t—” I start.
But they’re both looking at me like they’ve already won—especially Solvi.
“Fine,” I tell her. “Lyn…if you aren’t busy?”
“I’m taking time off, remember?” she says. “Boss told me to.”
I sigh. “Yes…yes, he did, didn’t he?”
And from the look on Lyn’s face—caught between relief, dread, and something far more dangerous—I know this is a mistake.
I’ve crossed too many boundaries already.
And now I’m about to cross another.
CHAPTER 11
LYN
This is an undeniably horrible idea.
I shouldn’t be going to lunch with my supervisor. I shouldn’t be hanging out with him and his daughter. I shouldn’t be walking with them in Mythara Village like we’re some kind of fucked up family, especially when I’m barely holding my thoughts about him at bay.
Thoughts that have been…intense. A lot.
Borderline undeniable.
