"Your job isn't to sacrifice yourself," she frowned.
"Sometimes it is," I met her eyes. "Winter, you're important. Not just because of the prophecy, but because you're you. And Horrace is connected to you now. If something happened to either of you..."
I trailed off, not sure how to express what I was feeling. The truth was, in that moment facing the Void Eater, I hadn't been thinking about the prophecy or my duty as her protector. I'd been thinking about Winter, her kindness, her strength, the way she treated my skeletons like they mattered, the way she'd accepted Horrace without hesitation. The way she made me feel like I belonged.
"Besides," I added, trying to lighten the mood, "someone has to keep Jeffrey out of trouble. Can you imagine the chaos if he was left unsupervised?"
That earned me a small laugh, which I counted as a victory. Winter finished cleaning my face, her touch lingering longer than strictly necessary.
"Thank you. For protecting us. For being... you."
Something shifted between us in that moment. The air felt charged, electric with possibility. Winter was so close, hergray eyes soft with an emotion I couldn't quite name. Without thinking, I leaned forward and kissed her.
It was impulsive, probably stupid, definitely against Bureau protocols. But the moment my lips touched hers, I couldn't bring myself to care about any of that. To my surprise and delight, after a brief moment of shock, Winter responded, her arms wrapping around my neck as she deepened the kiss.
Time seemed to stop as we sat there on her kitchen floor, the world narrowing to just this moment, just us. I could taste the faint saltiness of blood still on my lips, could feel the warmth of her against me, could sense Horrace's amused musical trilling in the background.
Wait, Horrace?
I'd almost forgotten the manticore was there, watching us with all twelve of his eyes. The realization made me pull back slightly, though I kept my arms around Winter.
"Um," I felt a blush creeping up my neck, "I think we have an audience."
Winter glanced at Horrace, who was making what could only be described as the manticore equivalent of a wolf-whistle. She laughed, the sound warm and bright.
"I don't think he minds," she leaned in again.
This time when we kissed, it was slower, more deliberate. I pulled her closer, one hand tangling in her hair as the other slid down to her waist. She made a soft sound against my lips that sent electricity down my spine. Her fingers trailed up my neck, leaving goosebumps in their wake as she pressed against me with an urgency that matched my own growing need.
I could taste the faint mint of her toothpaste, feel the softness of her lips yielding against mine. When her tongue brushed against my bottom lip, I opened to her, deepening our connection as heat pooled low in my body. The kitchen floor was hard beneath us, but I barely noticed, lost in the way Winter'sbody fit perfectly against mine, how her breath quickened when I gently tugged her hair.
My thumb traced small circles at her hip, slipping just beneath the hem of her shirt to find warm skin. When she pulled back just enough to whisper my name against my mouth, the raw vulnerability in her voice undid something tightly wound inside me.
We were so caught up in each other that we didn't hear the apartment door opening. It wasn't until Horrace made a sharp, warning trill that we broke apart, looking up to find nothing. Horrace was staring at the empty doorway, all twelve eyes blinking in confusion.
Then I realized, Horrace wasn't warning us about someone coming in. He was warning us about Fenric, who was already in the apartment, standing just out of our line of sight, his attention focused on his tablet.
"According to my analysis," Fenric's voice made us both jump, "the inter-dimensional energy signature has stabilized, which suggests that?—"
He looked up from his tablet, his words cutting off abruptly as he took in the scene: Winter and me on the kitchen floor, clearly having just broken apart from an embrace, both of us flushed and disheveled.
For a moment, no one spoke. Then Winter and I looked at each other and burst out laughing.
Fenric's eye began to twitch.
"I'll just," he backed toward the door, his tablet clutched to his chest like a shield, "file a report on this incident."
After he fled, Winter turned back to me, her eyes dancing with mischief and something warmer, something that made my heart race.
"Well," she giggled.
"Completely worth it," I finished for her, grinning despite the lingering pain in my head. "Though I'm pretty sure I just violated about fifty Bureau protocols."
"Only fifty?" she teased. "I'm disappointed, Milo. I thought you were more rebellious than that."
I laughed, pulling her close again. "Give me time. The day is still young."
As Winter nestled against me, her head resting on my shoulder, I caught sight of Horrace watching us with approval. His form had stabilized again, the glow returning to its normal intensity.
