Caelen stood by the window, his gaze locked on the world outside—though his eyes saw nothing at all. The moon hung heavy in the sky, its pale light casting shadows across the room. But no matter how much he tried to focus on the night, his mind refused to quiet.
Her words kept echoing in his head.
'I feel it in my bones. And you do too. You are just afraid'.
He gripped the edge of the window, his knuckles turning white. He could feel the pull of it,the pull of her—like a chain wrapped around his chest, squeezing tighter with every passing moment.
She didn't leave.
She stayed.
The warmth of her defiance was still burning in the back of his mind, like the faintest ember threatening to grow. It had been years since someone had stood their ground like that against him. Years since anyone had refused to bend, refused to walk away when he told them to.
He hated how much it unsettled him.
The curse inside him—it was like a storm that never stopped. A storm that had been raging for centuries. Each time he used his magic, it left scars on the world, on those around him, and most of all, on him. He'd learned to keep it controlled, to lock it away, to bury the parts of himself that could break everything.
But Ariadne… she saw right through him. And in doing so, she challenged him in ways he wasn't prepared for. Her voice still lingered in his mind, her words cutting through the layers of cold he'd built.
You're just afraid.
No.
He wasn't afraid of her. He was afraid of himself. Of what she might pull from him. Of what might break if she really got close.
He turned away from the window, his fingers digging into the wooden frame. The silence of the room felt suffocating now, the weight of her presence still pressing down on him despite the space between them.
She'd been bold, yes. She'd stood her ground and refused to back down. But that wasn't what had unsettled him.
It was the way she saw him.
The way she'd looked at him—not as some untouchable being, but as someone with cracks, with a past, with something worth fighting for.
The idea that someone could see through the mask he'd worn for centuries, could feel the storm inside him, and not turn away…
He hated how it made him feel.
He hated how she made him feel.
And yet…
A part of him wanted her closer. To let her in. To stop pretending that he didn't need anyone, that he didn't crave a connection—no matter how dangerous.
But that wasn't a choice he could afford to make.
Not yet.
He pushed himself away from the window, his steps echoing through the room. He moved to the door, his mind kept racing with all the reasons he should push her away, all the reasons it was safer for her to leave before the sun rose.
But when he opened the door, he didn't expect to find her standing there.
Ariadne.
She was leaning against the doorframe, her eyes were searching his, the faintest shadow of a smile on her lips as if she knew exactly what he was thinking.
"You didn't think I would leave, did you?" she asked, her voice a quiet challenge.
Caelen's chest tightened, his heart betraying him with every beat. He said nothing, couldn't bring himself to. Because deep down, he knew the truth. She wasn't going anywhere. Not now. Not when she was the only thing in his world that felt like it might actually be real.
He closed his eyes for a moment, but her presence didn't fade. Instead, it settled deeper inside him, carving a space that he wasn't sure if he wanted to fill.
"Leave," he whispered. "Before it's too late."
But he knew, even as the words left his mouth, that they were hollow. She wouldn't listen. She would never listen.
And maybe...just maybe he didn't want her to.