Page 164 of Zenith Court

“Ambitious.”

“I’ve been told victory should change a man.”

“Even without the line?” I touched my bare wrist with my other hand.

“Especially like this. No magic answering for me before I get my mouth open.”

“Your mouth has never needed help.”

“There she is.” His smile came quickly and faded into something quieter. “I choose you, Astra. And I want the days we weren’t supposed to have.”

“If the line returns, do you want it?”

His answer came without humor. “Yes. Not because it chooses for me. Because I missed knowing when you were hurt before you had to say it.”

“You may still have to wait until I say it.”

“Then I wait.”

Warmth spread beneath my palm. Green apple came first, sharp and bright, followed by sun-warmed stone. The line crossed Kieran’s shoulder and ran to his wrist in a clean flare before settling green-gold beneath the skin.

His breath broke. He pulled me against him with his uninjured arm and pressed his face into my hair.

The burned wrist stayed loose between us. I covered it with my hand only after he turned it palm-up, and felt no new heat in the damaged skin. The returning bond had not repaired the injury or erased what the basin had cost.

I felt his heart through the line, fast and startled. The old countdown did not return with it.

“Still here,” he said.

“Still loud.”

He laughed into my hair. When he let me go, he kept our fingers linked until the room steadied.

Jonah had watched both lines return from the chair nearest the door. He brought me the bread from the windowsill without being asked, then stopped an arm’s length away while I ate half of it. Only after I set the rest down did I cross to him.

He rose before I reached him, leaving enough space for me to stop. Then he held out his hand, palm up, and waited.

“May I?”

“Yes.”

His palm was warm and callused. No leather heat followed.

“You’ve spent years holding doors for everyone else,” I said. “I don’t want duty to answer this.”

“It won’t.”

“Would you choose me on a day when nobody needed guarding?”

Jonah considered before he answered. “I would choose breakfast with you on that day.”

The answer surprised a laugh out of me.

One corner of his mouth lifted. “I would choose the walk after. I would choose you asleep while I read, and awake while I try to.”

“You make me sound disruptive.”

“You are.” His thumb rested against the inside of my wrist. “You asked me once where I wanted your hands.”