POV: Silas
He reached the corridor thirty seconds after they ca through.
Damian first, then Eve, then Damon and Maya behind them, bag over her shoulder, eyes already scanning the space with the wariness of soone who’d learned not to assu safety.
Silas took all of that in with a single sweep.
Then he looked at Eve.
She looked tired, the kind of expression you have after surviving sothing rather than drowning in it. There were shadows under her eyes, delicate purple half-moons that spoke of too many hours awake and not enough rest. Her shoulders carried the tension of soone who’d been holding themselves upright through sheer will and hadn’t quite rembered how to relax yet.
Her gaze found his.
He didn’t move.
Just let himself look at her. Let himself have this mont. Three weeks of not seeing her, and now she was twelve feet away...real, solid, ho, and he needed one second to absorb the reality of it before he trusted himself to cross the distance without doing sothing that would embarrass them both.
Eve walked to him.
Silas t her halfway.
Her arms ca around him at the sa mont his wrapped around her, and he pulled her in....not gently, not the careful, asured version of himself he’d been performing for three weeks....just fully, completely, desperately. Her face pressed against his chest, his arms locked around her, his face buried in her hair.
He breathed her in.
She was here. She was real. The bond between them was singing, bright and warm and whole again, and three weeks of carefully maintained composure was quietly dissolving into sothing that felt dangerously close to breaking.
"Hi," Eve said into his chest, her voice muffled and warm.
"Hi," Silas managed.
His voice ca out steadier than he’d expected. Than he’d earned.
Over Eve’s head, Damian caught his eye. The look was brief but loaded with aning: We need to talk but not now. She’s okay. I’ll tell you everything later.
Silas nodded once.
Damon was already gone....Silas could hear him sowhere deeper in the estate, the restless energy of Damon back in his own territory after too long away. Doors opening. Soone greeting him loudly in the kitchen.
Maya stood at the edge of the corridor, looking at nothing in particular.
"Maya," Silas said, and his voice was gentler than usual.
She looked at him.
"Your room’s ready. Lena stocked it this morning. There’s food in the kitchen if you want it."
Sothing complicated flickered across Maya’s face...surprise, maybe, or gratitude she wasn’t sure how to hold.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
He nodded.
She walked past them, giving Eve’s arm a brief touch as she went, just a graze of fingers, and disappeared around the corner.
Damian looked at Silas once more. "Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow," Silas agreed.
Then Damian was gone too, leaving just the two of them at the corridor.
Eve pulled back enough to look up at his face.
"You look tired," she said softly.
"You look worse," Silas replied and laughed.
Eve made a sound that was almost a laugh. "Charming."
She studied him, her eyes moving over his features with careful attention. "Were you okay? Actually?"
Silas held her gaze.
He could lie. Could give her the version that was technically true, the estate ran smoothly, the pack held together, nothing fell apart. Could protect her from the four AM monts when he’d stood at his window watching for the portal that would open, from the ten minutes he’d spent with his hands braced on his desk just breathing through the absence of her.
"No," he said.
Her expression shifted, sothing in her eyes softening.
"I was functional," Silas continued. "Everything that needed doing got done. The pack didn’t suffer. But no..." He paused, the admission harder than he’d expected. "I wasn’t okay. I don’t do well with that kind of distance. Not from you."
Eve reached up and touched his face, her palm warm against his jaw.
"I’m here now," she said.
"I know," Silas said, his hand coming up to cover hers. "I can feel it."
"Silas."
"I know," he said again, softer this ti. "I know."
Then she kissed him and Silas kissed her back, then he picked her up and carried her to his room.
***
His room felt different now, more familiar sohow, though she’d been in it before. The way spaces felt after you’d missed them. Details sharpening into sothing personal and intimate.
The fire was already going, low and steady. Soone had thought ahead. Probably Lena.
Eve sat on the edge of the bed and pulled off her boots without ceremony. Silas watched her do it with the attention he’d been carefully rationing for three weeks.
She looked up and caught him staring.
"You’re watching ," she said, but there was no reproach in it.
"Yes," Silas said. No apology.
Eve held his gaze for a long mont. Then she reached up and pulled the tie from her hair, letting it fall loose around her shoulders in dark waves.
Silas crossed the room.
He sat beside her on the bed, close enough that their shoulders touched. Eve leaned into the contact imdiately, and they sat like that for a long ti.
"Tell sothing that happened here while I was gone," Eve said after a while. "Sothing small."
Silas thought for a mont.
"Brynn’s dog had puppies. Six of them. She nad all of them after Court nobles."
Eve made a sound that was almost a laugh. "Which nobles?"
"The smallest one is Malachai."
Eve busted into laughter "That’s perfect," she said.
"She has opinions."
"I love her."
Silas looked at her profile, the laugh fading into sothing softer, the tiredness still there underneath but easier now. Less weight-bearing.
He reached up and tucked a strand of hair back from her face. Eve turned toward him.
"I missed you," she said. "Not just the bond. You. Specifically you, Silas."
"I know," he said quietly.
"That’s all you’re giving ?"
"I missed you too," Silas said, and his voice had gone rough. "Every day. Every hour. Specifically."
Her mouth curved into a small smile. "Better."
He kissed her again.
This kiss was different, it was slower. His hand slid into her hair, fingers threading through the soft strands. Her hands ca up to his chest, fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt.
Eve pulled back a breath.
"Silas," she said.
"I know," he said against her mouth.
"I’m not..." She exhaled, and he felt it warm against his lips. "I’m tired."
"I know." Silas pulled back enough to look at her properly. "We don’t have to..."
"I didn’t say that," Eve interrupted, her eyes finding his.
He looked at her, waiting.
"I said I’m tired," she clarified, her voice steady and sure. "Not that I don’t want you. I’ve been wanting you for three weeks. Being tired doesn’t change that."
Silas looked at her, Then he laid her back against the pillows.
Eve looked up at him, and her expression shifted into sothing knowing.
"There he is," she said softly.
"What?"
"The version of you that’s not holding back anything," Eve said. "Not being the responsible one. I like him."
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