"Serena, we need to talk." Fin’s voice had the particular steadiness of a man who wasn’t afraid of those words and ant it.
The warmth left Serena’s face so fast he almost flinched, her anxiety washing into him through their matebond.
Xeon: Why would you open with that? What is wrong with you?
Before she realized what was happening, Fin quickly pulled her down on his lap. It was not a request.
Xeon: Good. Now she cannot leave. Proceed.
Fin:I’m not interrogating her.
Xeon:You are holding her hostage on a bench.
Serena’s cheeks heated.
He watched her with open amusent, not bothering to hide the smug look on his face. "You are cute when you blush."
She waited for him to say sothing else, but he had no plans on making her escape easy.
She gave a resigned sigh.
"Fin, there are at least six people who can see us right now."
"Seven. The one on the roof thinks I can’t see him."
She squird, trying to stand but his arms were iron, and he clearly had no intention of letting her go anywhere. After thirty seconds, she stopped fighting and gave him a flat look that would’ve made lesser n reconsider their life choices. It had no effect on Fin whatsoever.
"What." He grinned. Then kissed her before she could respond.
It was his favorite move. Ask a question, then make it impossible to answer. Tactically brilliant. Emotionally infuriating.
She gave a reluctant laugh at his persistence, the sound vibrating against his lips. He held her tighter, smiling against her mouth like an idiot, because that sound was worth more than all of Shadowclaw.
After a mont, his grin faded.
She went still, noticing.
Xeon: Watch her bolt.
Fin: She’s sitting in my lap. Where is she going to go?
Xeon: You underestimate her
"At the lake in Orosia," he began, voice steady, "there was more to why you were upset. And you didn’t say it."
Her eyes dropped to his collarbone. She didn’t answer.
That told him everything he needed. There were multiple wounds, and she’d been carrying every one of them alone. He picked the one that had kept him up at night.
"Let’s start with you thinking I left because of you."
She shifted, trying to stand.
"No. You’re staying right here."
She pressed her lips together, hard. She pushed harder the second ti, and he didn’t give an inch.
He held.
"Fin."
"Serena."
He paused, choosing his wording carefully.
"We had sex. Then there was a battle. And when you woke up, I was gone with no explanation. And you thought it was because of you." He paused, reading her. "Is that part of it?"
Her face went scarlet.
He’d hit the nail on the head exactly.
Even though he already knew the answer because it bled through their matebond, he waited.
"Yes," she said after a full minute, voice cracking on the word.
Xeon:There it is.
Fin:I know.
Xeon:Mate is the color of a pogranate.
Fin closed his eyes for a second, attempting to push Xeon to the back of his mind. Xeon didn’t budge.
"In hindsight, my timing with that couldn’t have been worse. That’s on ," he said, thumb tracing the curve of her cheekbone. "I need you to know that was purely coincidence. Nothing more."
"It killed . Reaching for you in the middle of the night and finding empty sheets will do things to a man, Serena."
Xeon: We do not leave mate right after mating.
Fin:I KNOW.
He held both sides of her face and pressed his forehead to hers.
"I’ve been crazy about you since the mont I saw you, Serena. I never wavered in that. Ever."
She swallowed against the tightness in her throat and kept her chin up, even though her vision was blurring at the edges. She refused to let the tears fall.
Fin watched the tension in her body release. Visibly. Like a rope had been cut from her spine. Her breathing evened out, and angst smoothed into relief through their matebond.
That was the big one.
Xeon:Her shoulders just dropped four inches. We may proceed to item two.
Fin:You’re keeping a list?
Xeon:Soone has to. You were too busy staring at her mouth.
He kissed her again. Slower this ti. She kissed him back, her arms sliding around his neck. He felt her fingers thread into the hair at the base of his skull, pulling him closer, and the sensation sent heat straight down his spine.
He pulled away. It took effort that bordered on physical pain, because her mouth was right there and she tasted like she always did, like a craving he’d never be able to na and would never stop chasing.
But there were other things.
Xeon: Focus.
Fin: I’m focused.
Xeon: You were pivoting toward her mouth again.
"In the cave," he said, shifting gears, "when the mages were speaking with you in another language. Was that about your shadow-tether and the nightmares Gavriel ntioned?"
"Yes."
"You were anxious then. And you are anxious now with asking." He tracked every micro-expression she thought she was hiding. "I’m assuming Hyran spoke in another language to give you privacy. Why?"
She exhaled slowly, not wanting to get upset. "Because everyone treated like glass and assud I can’t handle things. I’ve never felt so misunderstood."
Her eyes burned, and she looked out towards the lake willing tears not to co because she refused to cry on a pavilion while sitting on Fin’s lap with seven people watching.
"For the record," Fin said after a mont. "You broke an entry. A repeat offense I hear. And delivered a High General his second in command’s head." He gave a dark laugh. "’Glass’ is not the word I would use."
She shook her head. "Everyone assud I couldn’t handle things. Dex and Gav both lied to point blank about Hyran. Garrett was the only person who had the decency to tell that he couldn’t tell where you were."
"Have you ever had everyone in your life lie to you because they all collectively agreed you couldn’t handle it?"
Her sha and hurt flooded into him through their matebond. Xeon imdiately growled.
Fin opened his mouth to respond, but she beat him to it.
"Dex did what you did. Left in the middle of the night without a word. For the exact reason you said you did."
Fin’s blood ran cold, and his arms tightened around her. All warmth behind his eyes froze over, replaced by the calculating stillness of a man filing that away.
Xeon: Sounds familiar.
Fin: Not the sa thing.
Xeon. It is the EXACT sa thing.
He was about to speak, but she beat him to it.
"I learned about where you and Dex were because I overheard it. And shocker, I didn’t run off to Orosia right away. I’m not an idiot. It took a good two weeks to not feel drained after that battle."
"You did run off to Orosia eventually. To be fair." He said it with the particular inflection of a man who respected the audacity while still recognizing the insanity.
Serena gave him an unimpressed look that made him almost want to laugh.
"Yes. After everyone had managed to get themselves captured. Yes. I did. And It would have been a lot less impromptu with more information. Aeron was the only person remotely helpful."
"And now I’m being punished." She took a steadying breath. "I wasn’t expecting a thank you. I went against a direct order. Fine. Punish for that. But no, instead, I’m getting punished for breaking into a literal library. You’d think I robbed a bank."
Xeon: That is ridiculous. Mate is not being treated nicely.
Fin: I agree.
Xeon: It’s settled. We give Tiberon a corrective bite.
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
Xeon: She is crying. Do sothing. We are losing ground.
Fin:I am not losing ground. I am letting her finish.
Xeon: She’s still crying. Say sothing.
"You know what I think?" Fin said, one side of his mouth pulling up. "Tiberon handed you that punishnt because every other person he asked said no."
"And last ti I checked, Elara is the one doing the punishnt while you are in Shadowclaw."
She gave a wet laugh. Short, surprised, half a sob folded into it.
She shook her head and pressed her forehead into his shoulder. "Elara is doing nothing. I guarantee."
He wrapped both arms around her and held on, chin resting on top of her head.
Xeon:I would like to formally recomnd we never make her cry. That’s Dexmon’s job.
Fin: I agree. But we have one more item that needs to be addressed.
"Serena, who upset you two days ago? And why are you hiding it from ?"
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