Chapter 30
Airis’s second favorite installation stood on a rooftop.
The building itself wasn't particularly tall.
Its walls, floors, and even the staircase leading upward had all been woven from thick ropes intertwined with brightly colored threads.
It was both unsettling and mesmerizing.
The heavy ropes resembled the bodies of enormous snakes.
The thinner, vibrant threads, however, spoke of warmth.
Of comfort.
Of home.
They instantly reminded me of my grandmother.
Not my biological one.
But the woman I had loved just as deeply.
Her house had always been filled with yarn—
Scattered skeins,
Loose strands,
Half-finished projects resting in every corner.
The moment I stepped off the staircase and onto the rooftop, music began to play.
Soft.
Fragile.
Yet strangely restless.
The rhythm quickened—
Only to slow again without warning.
The melody wept.
Fluttered.
Chirped.
Airis quietly watched my reaction.
The setting sun shone behind him, catching me off guard.
“Is it already evening?” I frowned, stepping toward the railing as I watched the sun sink between two distant mountains.
“There’s a dome over this place that alters reality,” Airis explained, walking toward me.
With every step he took, the installation responded.
Musically.
Did it react to me the same way?
“What is this installation about?”
“Obsession,” Airis answered.
He didn’t hurry to continue.
And I didn’t hurry to ask.
“The ropes represent attachment.
The thin threads symbolize the woman he loved.”
For a moment, my breathing caught.
“The sounds woven into the music are fragments of her laughter, her tears...
Everything she left behind.”
He spoke about love with such detachment that it unsettled me.
I couldn't stay silent.
“Obsession?” I arched a brow.
“That’s what you call love?”
“In their case?”
His eyes met mine.
“Yes.”
“And what exactly was wrong with them?” I crossed my arms over my chest, sensing the challenge hidden behind his gaze.
“Katherine—
The woman Ruel fell in love with—
Was already married.”
Airis lifted a brow slightly.
I waited for him to continue.
And for the first time in a while, I was grateful for the bracelet around my wrist.
“Ruel fell in love with her and pursued her despite the fact that Katherine loved her husband and barely acknowledged his existence.” Airis's voice remained calm.
“And it went on for forty years.”
“And that means it couldn’t have been love?” I asked.
No.
I didn’t think it was healthy.
But I wasn’t about to concede the argument that easily.
“Not for a single moment,” Airis replied.
“Especially considering he never truly knew her.”
He paused.
“How can you love someone you don't know?”
His eyes never left mine.
“And can obsession with someone's appearance really be called love?”
I let out a quiet sigh.
Damn it.
He had a point.
But there was no chance I was admitting that out loud.
Instead, I turned back toward the mountains, pretending to study the distant landscape with great interest.
“And would you call what you had with Kai love?”
I froze.
It felt as though someone had stripped away every layer of protection before throwing a bucket of ice water over me.
I'd mentioned Kai only once.
And that had been a long time ago.
Yet Airis remembered.
“I don't know,” I answered more sharply than I intended.
“Does the past really matter that much?”
“No.”
He shrugged.
But the tension remained.
For reasons I couldn't explain, I decided to make it worse.
“What about you?” I asked.
“I doubt you've ever really been in love.
But you've had relationships before...
Haven't you?”
I glanced at him for only a second.
“I have.”
I bit the inside of my cheek before looking back toward the mountains.
I wasn't jealous.
Why would I be?
But I couldn't pretend his answer hadn't affected me.
“And now?”
“And now there’s no one warming my bed,” he replied calmly.
“Other than you, Fireling.”
A snort escaped before I could stop it.
“Yes, and apparently that's the closest we'll ever get.”
The idiot actually laughed.
Surprisingly...
It didn't irritate me.
If anything, he felt different today.
More sincere.
More alive than I'd ever seen him.
Every second of it felt so unreal that it almost seemed like a dream.
“So why did this place make your list of favorites?” I asked.
“Are you secretly a fan of obsession?”
“More of determination,” he answered.
“And the music here is beautiful.
So is this place.”
“On that, I agree.”
I nodded softly.
“Honestly...
This place feels incredibly romantic.”
I looked around.
“We're probably the only thing ruining the atmosphere.”
“We could fix that.”
I let go of the railing and looked at him.
“By moving on to the next location?”
“That wasn't what I had in mind.”
Without warning—but with complete confidence—Airis took my hand.
“We could rehearse our dance for the Selection.”
I sighed.
No.
This man was definitely not a romantic.
“You really can turn absolutely anything into another training session, can't you?”
I rolled my eyes.
“You should be thanking every saint alive for giving you such an exceptional mentor.”
He winked before his free hand settled against my waist.
“Right.
Of course.”
My voice dripped with sarcasm.
My heart, however, seemed to forget how to beat.
“I should probably warn you,” I admitted, desperately trying to keep both my thoughts and my body under control.
“I can't dance.”
“I already told you I pity your future dance partner.”
“How sweet.”
I forced a smile.
“Sweet to know you're actually capable of pity.”
“I'm capable of far more than that.”
His voice dropped lower than usual.
My traitorous body reacted instantly.
As though it had been waiting for exactly that.
Then came the pause I'd been trying to avoid this whole time.
As if sensing the tension between us, the melody softened.
It filled with whispers.
With gentle harmony.
“Your body's too tense,” Airis said softly.
“Should I remind you again that you don't need to be afraid when you're with me?”
“No need.”
I stared anywhere but at him.
“My mind already knows that.
My body just hasn't caught up yet.”
Airis moved with effortless grace.
Mine seemed to grow stiffer on purpose.
Maybe I was embarrassed by the closeness.
Or maybe I was simply afraid.
After Kai...
Trusting someone romantically terrified me.
And whatever this was between me and Airis—
It was beginning to feel dangerously close.
“You know why I love this installation so much?” Airis asked quietly.
“Why?”
“Because it gives me hope.”
His gaze lingered on me.
“Hope that every person is capable of love.”
A small pause.
“Even me.”
For a moment, my heartbeat seemed louder than the music itself.
As though it was trying to prove it was more alive than the rest of me.
Meanwhile, my mind kept replaying Airis’s words,
Searching for the hidden catch.
Finding none.
As if he sensed that, Airis stopped moving.
But he didn't let go of me.
Our eyes met.
The tension between us became something else.
Something far too dangerous to put into words.
“Take a deep breath,” he said softly.
“Then let it out slowly.
Three times.”
He waited a moment before adding,
“It'll help you relax.
Your body will realize there's nothing left to fear.”
And I listened.
Airis waited patiently.
A few breaths later, the tight knot inside my chest finally began to loosen.
“Better already.”
He gently drew me a little closer.
I was fully prepared for every bit of that tension to return.
“Don't even think about it, Fireling,” he whispered near my ear.
I swallowed.
Trying not to think at all.
Because somehow Airis always seemed to notice what my body was feeling before I did.
And that was strange.
Far too intimate for my own peace of mind.
Anastasia Lang’s POV
I had assumed that after the tavern—and the conversation Tarven clearly considered a failure—we would head straight back to the academy.
Apparently not.
This man had other plans.
Somehow, I had become something dangerously close to a pocket dog he insisted on dragging everywhere.
I understood why.
Tarven no longer wanted to leave me unattended at the academy.
Now he knew I was hiding far more than I had ever admitted.
Only the gods knew how far he might go to uncover the truth.
We walked through the streets of Magicslan.
More specifically, through Marcus’s district—
The territory of the ninth child of the city’s first ruler.
M9.
The most religious part of the city.
Temples stood on nearly every corner.
Confession booths.
Execution grounds.
Of all twelve districts, this one felt the cruelest.
Even though it existed within a world of magic, the faith practiced here rejected everything connected to dark magic, witches, and seers.
Ironically, Violetta’s Sixth District was only a few minutes away—
Separated only by Ethan’s district, which stood between the religious quarter and the home of witches and prophets.
Tarven had been born here.
Raised here.
At least for most of his childhood.
The streets were empty.
Drenched in silence and discipline.
The candles lining the houses felt less like decoration...
And more like witnesses.
Or guards.
I exhaled quietly, pulling Tarven’s oversized hoodie tighter around myself.
I'd stolen it from him before moving into the dormitory.
I wasn't cold.
Just deeply uncomfortable.
The kind of discomfort that settles beneath your skin until your whole body trembles.
God...
I wanted to run.
But Tarven would never let me disappear.
“My parents haven't seen you in a long time,” he said with surprising enthusiasm as he continued walking through streets that seemed designed to strip people of hope.
“They've asked me several times to bring you over.”
Tarven's parents loved me.
As though I were their own daughter.
Whenever I had to stay with my father while Alicia was there, I usually ended up hiding with Tarven's family until my sister returned to our mother in Utararus.
His parents had always welcomed me.
His sisters, however...
Were an entirely different story.
Tarven had six of them.
Three were already married and living elsewhere.
The remaining three were loyal servants of Hell itself.
At least, that's how I preferred to think of them.
Not once had I visited without one of them trying to wound me with carefully chosen words.
Or ruin my clothes behind an innocent smile.
Or find some other subtle way to remind me I didn't belong.
“Don’t tell me you'd mind staying at my parents’ house for the night?” Tarven glanced at me.
If it weren't for this damned bracelet, I would've filled the air around him with enough plant toxins to knock him unconscious.
Then I'd run.
Tarven had no idea how complicated things were between me and his sisters.
Of course he didn't.
I'd never told him.
I wasn't about to force him to choose between me and his family.
Because I already knew who he'd choose.
And honestly...
He had every right to.
“Actually,” I said evenly, “I'd rather call a taxi and head back to Isthmond. It's only about an hour and a half from here.”
Tarven's expression hardened immediately.
The way it always did whenever something displeased him.
“Stasia, while you're wearing that bracelet, you're not returning to your room.
Especially not when the person who threatened you is still there.”
“Tarven, I didn't even bring a change of clothes.”
I could feel irritation slowly coiling inside me.
The whole situation was beginning to suffocate me.
A situation he'd dragged me into in the first place.
“I'm sure you'll be provided with everything you need.”
He winked again, slipping effortlessly back into that dangerously charming smile.
“I do have three sisters.
Not three brothers.”
That smile.
The exact reason I'd learned how to weaponize one myself.
“There are things I'm used to,” I said carefully, trying to make him understand.
“Things that make me feel comfortable.”
Our eyes met.
Both serious.
Both refusing to yield.
“There are things that make me feel safe.
And I hate it when someone makes decisions for me without warning and takes that comfort away.”
“You really need all that when you have me?” he asked immediately.
Only two more blocks.
Then we'd be standing in front of Tarven's house.
Two blocks left to convince him not to make me spend the night there.
“Yes.”
I met his gaze without hesitation.
“Right now, my magic is blocked.
A part of me is missing.
That's already stressful enough without losing my comfort zone too.”
Sometimes I honestly wondered why I collected enemies so easily.
Alicia.
Tarven's six sisters.
Maybe I was rotten to the core.
Or maybe I was simply vulnerable enough for people to sense it.
And decide to hurt me because of it.
“I'm your comfort zone,” Tarven said quietly.
“Or at least I'm trying to be.”
God.
He was stubborn.
I let out a slow breath.
Not from anger.
Not even from frustration.
From helplessness.
Because the thought of being alone in that house terrified me.
Especially without my magic.
I wouldn't be able to surround myself with poisonous spores to keep people away.
I wouldn't be able to protect myself if something happened.
“Well then,” I said, my voice sharper than I'd intended,
“How exactly would your parents react if we slept together in your room?”
Tarven froze.
Just like that...
I'd handed him another secret to obsess over.
Damn it.