Chapter Thirteen
Lia
Shuffling into the kitchen, I’m surprised to find it empty.
After waking from a nightmare, sleep evaded me. It became a long, circling loop of Kylo’s glare and Leo’s secrets, leaving me staring at the ceiling until the light crept through my curtains.
I’m not in the mood to train today. Facing Kylo feels like stepping into a cave where anything could be waiting for me in the dark.
Leo’s spiraling, and I’m not far behind.
My body feels heavy with exhaustion, and the dull ache behind my eyes refuses to fade. As if that wasn’t enough, my growling stomach dragged me out of bed before the sun was up.
The eggs sizzle as I grab a few ingredients for an omelet, the motion offering a small sense of normalcy. With a steaming mug of coffee in hand, I sit at the counter and try to gather myself.
Once it’s cooled, I add ice. I’ve always preferred cold drinks over warm ones. I finish cooking, then scarf down my breakfast. My body feels marginally better, but my mood is still in the gutter, refusing to climb out.
Right on cue, footsteps approach down the hallway, shattering what little peace I had left.
“Skipped dinner again?”
“I wasn’t hungry.”
“Your muscles need fuel. Skipping meals is guaranteed to slow your progress.”
“I’m aware.”
He tilts his head, amusement lacing his words. “Woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?”
“Let’s get today over with,” I mutter, brushing past him and making my way to the training room.
“Training with that mindset will hinder you,” he says, falling into step behind me.
Instead of responding, I tie my hair into a ponytail. My hand rests on my hip as I plant my feet and face him. “Well? What are you waiting for?”
His veiny, tattooed arm snakes around my neck, my spine slamming into a wall of solid muscle.
His forearm locks tight, pressure firm and unrelenting as the hold cinches closed.
Air rushes out of me. I claw at his arm, fingers scraping over hot skin.
Black prickles creep in at the corners of my vision.
No.
I stop fighting him with my hands. Reaching inward instead—past the panic—I latch onto the frustration coiled tight in my gut and pull. His arms peel away like they’ve been wrenched loose by invisible hands. I fling him forward.
Kylo sails across the mat, then stumbles as he lands.
I’ve always treated touch like a threat, a breach of my perimeter.
And here, I don’t get to avoid it.
I have to let Kylo touch me. Throw me. Pin me to the mats until my body learns what my mind still fights against.
Relentless as he is, he’s forcing me to face what the younger, weaker version of me was never taught.
“You’re improving,” he says. “Let’s keep going.”
His demands should irritate me. Instead, they pull me in. Each command hooks deeper.
“Watch out!”
I’m flung upward.
“Where’s your head at today?” he barks.
The far wall comes into view, and my focus settles there. I imagine Kylo’s body pinned against it, his feet skidding across the floor as my mind forces him to shift. We’re both locked in place, each of us resisting the other’s power.
“Fair play,” he concedes.
Is that a compliment?
Everything shifts, and my body is yanked backward. A thud cracks through the room as I drop to my hands and knees.
I almost had him.
“You did. That was before you distracted yourself.”
A hot surge shoots through me as he pulls me to my feet.
“I’ve never been able to catch one thought from you.” My voice is still a little raspy from the fall. “Not on purpose.”
“I know how to keep my thoughts to myself. I don’t let you hear them. You could do the same if you dialed in.”
Training would be easier if my mind stayed where I put it.
Why does he always smell like pine and earthy tones?
“I run outside every morning before our sessions,” he says, smirking. “Would explain the pine scent you’re so obsessed with.”
Heat rushes up my neck.
Is this part of some long, how-to-torture-Lia lesson plan?
The teasing edge in his expression dulls. “Have you been practicing your empathic abilities? I felt an odd presence last night.”
My cheeks flush.
Busted.
“I was experimenting,” I mutter. “Trying to see if I could control my powers on my own.”
“Whatever you did worked.”
I wish I knew what was going on in his mind right now.
“While we’re on the subject, let’s practice your empathy skills.”
“How? You’re not empathic.”
“That’s news to me,” he quips, and I laugh despite myself.
“We’ll use the same approach,” he continues. “Use me as your guinea pig.”
Closing my eyes, I summon what happiness feels like.
A sun-drenched beach—Leo beside me, his laughter carried on the wind. The ocean swirls around our ankles, cool and playful. Light dances across the waves.
I let the warmth of that moment build and push it outward, then open my eyes and look at Kylo.
He stares back, his face blank.
“Nothing?”
“No. Let’s try something else. Carter uses this during training. Staying present helps him tune into emotion. It might work for you.”
“Okay. What do I do?”
He reaches for my hands. “Take mine.”
We lower ourselves to the floor, and my knees brush his.
Focus? With him like this?
His voice slips into my thoughts. “Let the feeling take shape. What does it look like? Sound like? Let your senses guide you. Emotion lives in all of them.”
I turn my attention inward, searching for a memory that tugs at me in the best possible way.
We’re ten years old again. The schoolyard buzzes with laughter and the creak of swings. I’m mid-chase, legs pumping, breath catching, when the ground rushes up to meet me. My knee scrapes the dirt, tears springing to my eyes.
Leo is at my side, concern etched across his face, lifting me with the fierce protectiveness only a brother could have.
He hugs me. “You okay, Lia?”
“I’m okay. Thank you.”
The memory fades, but the tenderness lingers.
“Did it work?”
His gaze locks with mine, something softer hiding beneath the usual intensity. “I saw and felt the memory.”
“You did? I used telepathy and empathy?”
“You’re getting better.”
Maybe I’m not a complete failure. I’ll take one small victory.
“Next is defense. I’m going to send images into your mind, and your job is to block them out.”
Kylo stands close enough that I catch the cool trace of mint on his breath. Goosebumps rise along my arms.
“Ready?”
I nod, not trusting my voice.
His hands lift to either side of my face, and my breath catches. His fingers press against my temples as he tucks a stray piece of hair behind my ear. The brush of his knuckle against my cheek makes me shiver.
I haven’t let a man this close since Julian.
This is something else entirely. Something foreign.
My body doesn’t tense like it should.
His touch sears into me. My heart spirals, completely out of control.
Get it together, Lia.
I try to breathe through the rush of unwarranted emotions.
Focus on the task.
Not the warmth of his skin or the maddening way he makes my pulse trip over itself.
If I don’t rein it in, he’s going to know.
His presence slips into my mind, painless. He’s moving through my memories like a current, and no matter how hard I try to resist, it’s like holding back the tide.
I grip onto the good moments.
Leo and I laughing in the kitchen. Our secret hideout by the beach. The late-night talks when we swore we’d always protect each other. I try to keep those front and center, hiding the darker parts. Especially the memories with them. The ones Kylo can’t see.
The pressure of his presence intensifies. He’s digging, like he’s searching for something. His energy brushes past moment after moment, skimming through images from my childhood as if he’s flipping through pages of a book.
Keeping certain memories out of his grasp takes everything I have. I brace against his presence, trying to hold the line, but he doesn’t waver.
If I can’t block him entirely, I’ll make sure what needs to stay hidden remains that way.
“You’re losing control,” his voice echoes from somewhere both near and far.
An image of my mom slips past my defenses. Her eyes meet mine in the memory—soft, brown, and full of the kind of love that made everything else fade away.
No. This is wrong.
Why is he latching onto memories of her?
Maybe because the rest of my memories are tainted.
He keeps gravitating toward her. I try to shift the focus, to pull him away, but he won’t let go. I’m dragged into one of the memories he’s choosing to investigate fully. I’m on the ground, helpless, staring up at the man who killed her.
The scene unspools in brutal detail, as vivid as the night it happened. Her scream. My panic. The crushing sense that I couldn’t stop it.
The heartbreak crashes into me all over again, unraveling the fragile calm I’ve spent weeks trying to hold together.
I dig deep, searching for any shred of strength, and push until the connection breaks.
“Why would you choose that memory?”
He ripped the wound wide open again.
I showed him good memories. Safer ones. Moments full of light.
Fresh grief pulses in my chest, deep and consuming. I press a hand to my heart as if that alone could hold it all in.
“Why were the Aether Hunters after your family?”
I balk at his audacity. He doesn’t deserve an answer. I rise to my feet, flick my hand, and bring him to his knees.
“There’s the fire I’ve been searching for.” His mouth curves at one corner. “Is that all you’ve got?”
He’s thrown this time. The padded wall absorbs the blow, dust drifting around him.
“If I’d known bringing up your mom would trigger your inner fighter, I would’ve done it sooner.”
My breath stops. “How do you know about her?”
“Leo told me.”
“What?”
“You needed the push. Are you going to stand there and take my shit the same way you stood by and watched her die?”
Indignation erupts in me, hot and suffocating. I lunge forward and slam my fist into Kylo’s chest.
He doesn’t react.
That only fuels the fire.
My power knocks him to the floor.
I’m on him, fists flying. “You don’t know anything.”
His eyes flare. “Use it, Lia. Give me more.”