The walk back felt longer than the walk there.
It wasn't. I counted the steps. The turns. The creaks in the floor. It was the same path—but I wasn't the same person.
If anything goes wrong, I'll assume it was you.
That sentence rang in my skull like a curse I couldn't shake. Not a threat. Not a warning. A certainty. A line drawn in glass, daring me to breathe wrong.
Nyx didn't say anything. She was too tense. Too still. Her energy simmered just beneath my skin like wildfire waiting for oxygen.
He knows you saw it, I thought. And now he's watching.
And if he found out about the bond—if he found out about Nine—
I moved faster.
The moment I entered the lower halls, I felt it.
Nine.
His scent—soft and layered, familiar and blooming—wrapped around me like a heartbeat in the dark. I followed it without hesitation, my feet quickening, breath catching.
I didn't knock.
The door opened under my hand, and the second I stepped inside, he was there.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor beside the bed, his back straight, his hands resting lightly in his lap. Still wearing the soft shirt I'd given him the night before. Still glowing faintly in the bond, even with the mark hidden.
His head jerked up when I entered.
"Rhea."
Not a question. Not a greeting. Just my name—filled with everything he hadn't said while I was gone.
I crossed the room in three strides and dropped to my knees in front of him.
"I'm okay," I said quickly. "They didn't hurt me."
Nine's shoulders sagged. His hands reached for mine like magnets pulled by instinct.
But you're scared, he whispered through the bond.
I nodded, unable to lie to him now that the thread between us was this strong.
"I'm not in danger," I said. "Not yet. But I need to be careful."
He pressed his forehead against mine.
Tell me.
So I did.
Not everything. Not the worst parts. But enough.
I told him about the boss. About the questions. About the shipment. About the new hybrid. About being watched.
About the trap I'd just agreed to walk into with both eyes open.
By the end, Nine was trembling again. But not from fear.
From fury.
I don't want you to go, he said.
"I know."
Can't they send someone else?
"They don't trust anyone else. That's the point."
Nine pulled back slightly, his violet eyes darkened with emotion. "You should have said no."
I blinked.
It was the first time he'd sounded angry with me.
The bond pulsed—frustration, fear, helplessness. All tangled together in the fragile way only he could feel them.
"I can't say no," I said softly. "If I do, they'll find another reason to punish you. Or someone else. I need to be there so I can control what I can."
His jaw tensed.
"Then I'm coming with you."
The words came out too fast. Too sure. Like he'd already decided.
My heart stuttered. "You can't. They'd never allow that."
Then sneak me in. I won't be trouble. I'll be good. I just— He broke off. Swallowed. I hate being here when you're gone.
The bond vibrated with ache. Real, bone-deep ache.
I reached for him and pulled him into my lap, wrapping my arms around his waist. He melted into me instantly, burying his face in my throat.
I was scared, he admitted finally. Even though I knew you'd come back, it still felt like… like I'd been left again.
I closed my eyes, fingers carding gently through his hair. "I'm not going to leave you."
You did. Even for a little. It still hurt.
I could feel him trying not to cry.
I held him tighter.
"There's a part of me that wants to take you and run," I murmured. "Right now. Just shift and disappear into the wild and never look back."
Then why don't we?
"Because they'd chase us. And they'd never stop. Not until we were both dead."
Nine didn't answer.
His silence was a soft kind of devastation.
"I need you to stay here for now," I whispered. "Just until this is over. And then I'll find a way. I promise."
He nodded against my skin, slow and reluctant.
"I'll leave some of my scent here," I added, brushing my lips against his temple. "So you won't feel alone."
Nine tilted his head up.
"I don't want just scent."
"What do you want?"
"You."
He meant it in the simplest, most devastating way possible.
Not your body. Not your protection.
Just you.
I kissed him softly, just once, just enough.
And the bond flared with warmth.