She went quiet, her brow furrowing.
“Right…”
“What’s a Ducati?” she asked finally.
“It’s a type of motorcycle.”
She blinked. Then she laughed—properly this time.
“Oh. That makeswaymore sense. I was picturing a very shiny and very expensive car.”
“It was shiny,” I said. “And expensive, like a car. Just… faster.”
She shook her head, smiling. “You crashed it on purpose?”
“I didn’tplanto crash,” I said. “I just didn’t try that hard not to.”
She hummed thoughtfully. “That tracks too.”
I turned my head to look at her. She was calmer now. Her eyes followed the ceiling like she was replaying the image.
“So, they sent you to Darkmoor for that?”
“My magic rates at 47D,” I shrugged. “Easy enough to blame the dark in me instead of… anything else. But it’s been a few years. I don’t even care anymore.”
“You don’t have to lie to me.”
I turned towards her. “I figured it out a while ago. Just because they’re my blood…doesn’t mean I owe them anything.” I ran my hand over the scars on my palms.
My gaze flicked back to hers, something tightening in my chest.
“So, when I met Ash and K – and now you too.”
“Me?” she smiled.
“Yeah,” I said. “You. That’s when I realised what I’d been missing.”
Her smile softened—not teasing this time.
She didn’t answer right away. Instead, she rolled onto her side, propping her head on her hand, studying me like she was seeing me properly for the first time.
“That’s a big thing to say,” she murmured.
I shrugged, suddenly aware of how close we were. “I don’t say it lightly.”
She searched my face, like she was checking for cracks, for bravado.
“I don’t think I’ve ever really had that,” she admitted. “People who choose me. Not because they’re meant to. Not because they should. Just because they want to.”
I swallowed. “You do.”
Her breath caught—just slightly.
“Even knowing everything?” she asked. “What I am. What follows me.”
“Yes,” I said immediately. No pause. No doubt.
“Especially knowing.”
