Serena still wasn't as open as she had been before Kain decided to confront her about 'repaying him with her body.' But after Kain broke the ice last night, she also was no longer outright freezing him out.
It was somewhere in between, like a wall that had been chipped but not yet broken down. Kain figured that was a small win—his blunt approach must have done something right.
They hadn't spoken much beyond necessity, but Kain could sense that the worst had passed, and things may continue to ease up with time.
Just when Kain was thinking that their shared prison may actually be a good opportunity to reconcile, Serena suddenly stiffened.
Kain, who had been idly flipping a bottle in boredom, trying to get it to land upright, immediately caught the shift. "What?" he asked, voice low and alert.
