A few hours later, Xavier, Arlen, Rin, and Klatos had dinner in the hotel's private dining section, the kind of place designed for people who wanted food without strangers listening in on their conversations.
Just like the first day, they were getting stares and glares and Xavier has had enough of it. So now, whenever he wanted to have breakfast, lunch, or dinner, he would just book the entire private dining section where only staff mbers were allowed.
Arlen sat with her shoulders tight, eyes drifting back to her slate every few minutes like she still wanted to fight it into giving her sothing useful. She barely touched her plate at first, then ate in short bites that looked more like obligation than hunger. Rin looked bored and irritated, the kind of mood he carried when he couldn't punch a problem and didn't know what else to do with his hands.
Klatos didn't even try to pretend he was fine, because pretending would have taken more restraint than he had.
"You're insane," Klatos said, voice raised enough that the staff glanced their way and quickly looked away again. "You understand that, right? You fooled , ditched , went alone, and walked into a private floor eting like you were untouchable."
Rin chewed slowly and muttered, "He kinda is."
Klatos snapped his head at him. "He's not. That's the whole point. He's one mistake away from becoming a rumor."
Xavier kept eating.
He cut through the at with practiced ease, fork steady, chewing like the entire city outside didn't exist. He didn't rush, didn't posture, didn't try to win an argunt with words. Food was the only thing he treated like peace, and once he started, the world could wait its turn.
Klatos leaned forward, voice sharper with anger. "Iron Mandate could have ended you in that room. There were no caras, and no witnesses. No one would have co to rescue you. You would've died, and we would've found out after the fact."
Xavier swallowed and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "They didn't. They cannot hurt . They must already know I am acquainted with Veyr. They wouldn't take double the risk to end one life."
"That's not a plan," Klatos shot back. "That's luck."
Xavier finally looked at him, calm behind the mask. "It was a plan. You just didn't like being left out of it."
Klatos's feathers flared slightly, body tense. "You're treating us like baggage."
Xavier took another bite, unbothered. "I'm treating you like people I want alive."
Arlen's eyes lifted at that, but she didn't speak. Rin sighed and pushed his plate a little, appetite fading as the tension stayed stuck between them.
Klatos stared at Xavier like he wanted to keep yelling, but his anger didn't have anywhere to land. The argunt stayed loud in his chest even when his mouth closed.
Xavier finished his dinner anyway.
When the plates were cleared and the staff retreated, they moved back toward their rooms in the quiet hallway. Arlen walked slightly behind Xavier, arms folded, eyes down, the upset sitting on her face like she couldn't shake it off.
Rin went ahead without waiting, irritated in that blunt way he handled disappointnt. Klatos stayed tense, still simring, but he didn't add more words because he knew it wouldn't change anything.
Inside Xavier's room, the door shut behind them and the outside world cut off again.
Arlen didn't sit. She stood near the table, fingers pressed against her own arm, eyes fixed on nothing in particular. Xavier took off his mask, set it down carefully, and watched her for a mont. He already knew the answer, but he asked anyway.
"What happened?"
Arlen's throat moved like she swallowed sothing bitter. "I couldn't find them," she said quietly. "I tried everything I could reach. I leaned on old contacts, scraped what databases still answer my na, chased rumors, ran through patterns, and there's nothing. No last known location that matters. No trail that holds."
She looked up at him, eyes tight. "I'm sorry."
Xavier didn't react like it was news. He walked closer, and stopped in front of her.
"You're not useless," he said. "That's not what this ans."
Arlen let out a shaky breath, and her voice cracked anyway. "Then what does it an?"
"It ans they're good," Xavier replied. "It ans they're hiding so well that they're not leaving anything behind. That's the best outco right now."
Arlen stared at him like she wanted to believe it but couldn't force herself to. Then she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, tight enough to hurt, pressing her forehead against his chest as if she could anchor herself there. Her grip squeezed harder, and Xavier's hands ca up around her back without hesitation, holding her steady.
Her voice was muffled against him when she spoke. "We had a deal."
Xavier didn't pretend he didn't know what she ant. "Yeah."
"Three nights," she muttered. "That's what I said. And we passed that."
Xavier exhaled once. "We did."
Arlen leaned back just enough to look at him, her eyes searching his face. "Do you still want to fuck ?"
Xavier's mouth curved slightly, almost amused. "That wasn't part of the deal."
Arlen stared at him, then her expression shifted into sothing more stubborn, more personal.
"If I want to fuck you," she said, voice lower now, "without conditions, can I get fucked?"
Xavier t her gaze, unhurried. "Depends."
Arlen's brows pulled together. "Depends on what?"
Xavier's eyes moved over her slowly, not hungry yet, just assessing the honesty in the question. "Depends on whether you can turn on."
Arlen didn't waste a second. She reached for him, pushed him back toward the bed with a force that surprised even her, and he let her do it because he wanted to see what she'd choose next. He landed sitting, then leaned back as she climbed onto him, knees on either side of his hips, hands gripping his shoulders like she'd decided she was done asking permission.
Then she kissed him hard, mouth fierce, ssy, demanding, like she was trying to steal the doubt out of his body and replace it with certainty.
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