The silence was heavy with everything we weren’t saying, everything we couldn’t say.
Gael’s thumb brushed over my lower lip, his eyes softening just a fraction.
“Still think it’s all fucked?” he whispered, his voice low and rough.
I managed a shaky laugh, my breath hitching.
“Yeah,” I rasped, my voice unsteady. “But maybe it’s a little less fucked now.”
His lips curved into a smile. A real, unguarded smile and it was so beautiful it made my chest ache.
He rested his forehead against mine, his fingers still tangled in my hair. And for the first time in days, maybe longer, I didn’t feel completely lost.
In this mess of chaos and uncertainty, this fragile, stolen moment felt like something real.
It was absurd, really, to find any kind of clarity in the midst of all this, but there it was. Maybe I was lying to myself, trying to make sense of something that shouldn’t exist.
Maybe it was the wound, bleeding me of my usual logic, clouding my ability to think straight.
This strange pull between us, this undeniable attraction, shouldn’t have been possible.
It defied every rule, every boundary I’d ever known. But then again, nothing had made sense lately.
CHAPTER SEVEN
GAEL
Hollow Vale, the last stop on the train and our new destination, felt like a trap closing in with every step.
The smell of hunters hung in the air, a mix of gun oil and sweat that made my fangs itch.
And judging by the way Asher's shoulders had gone rigid beside me, he could sense them too.
He looked like he might collapse at any moment, his body swaying slightly with every step, but his eyes betrayed no weakness.
They remained sharp, scanning the streets with a hunter’s precision, darting to every shadow and corner as if he expected danger to leap out at us at any second.
We didn’t belong here.
A hunter and a vampire, walking side by side, one of us limping and barely staying upright, was a sight bound to attract attention.
Anyone watching would see something out of place, something wrong. The thought made me uneasy.
The sky above us was beginning to lighten, the inky black giving way to muted grays. The sun would rise soon. I, no we, needed to find shelter. Fast. There was no time to waste.
“We need to move,” I said, glancing at Asher.
He nodded wordlessly, his jaw clenched tight. I could see the strain in every movement he made, every step a visible struggle, but he didn’t stop.
He wouldn’t last long like this.
“I’m fine,” Asher shot back, as if he’d heard my thoughts.
His voice was rough, but the slight tremor gave him away. He was anything but fine.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “You’re about as fine as a corpse on a slab. Just lean on me.”
“I don’t need?—”
