Chapter 14 ARWEN
FOURTEEN
ARWEN
Ishouldn’t have said that.
The admission hangs in the air between us, more vulnerable than anything I’ve allowed in years. Letting people in is dangerous. Letting people in gets you killed. Letting people in is how the cult breaks you—make you need something, then control it.
But it’s true. And I’m tired of hiding from truth.
Zrynok doesn’t respond immediately. Just observes me with those uneven eyes, something moving behind them that I can’t quite parse. The craving is still there—the Bloom makes sure of that—but there’s something else too. Something that warms instead of burns.
“I don’t know how to do this.” His voice is rough. Low. “Letting people in. Wanting. Whatever this is between us.” A pause. “I’ve spent my life keeping distance. Treating people as obstacles or assets. It’s simpler that way.”
“Simpler isn’t the same as better.”
“No.” A sound that might be acknowledgment. Might be agreement. “It’s not.”
The candle flickers. Outside the chamber, the monastery continues its dark work—Keepers patrolling, initiates suffering, the Abbot planning whatever horrors come next. But in this small space, carved from stone and silence, something takes root. Something neither of us expected.
“We should rest. The treatment needs time to work. Tomorrow we plan in earnest.”
“Rest.” He says the word like he’s never heard it before. “I don’t know if I can.”
“Try.” I lean back against the wall, close my eyes. “The Bloom is quieter when you’re not fighting it. Sleep might come easier than you expect.”
Quiet descends over the chamber. I don’t sleep—not really. But I drift, awareness flickering in and out, body finally surrendering to exhaustion while some part of me keeps watch.
At some point, I sense him move. Come nearer. Not touching—we haven’t crossed that line, not yet—but near enough that his presence registers. A warmth at my side. A body that could be threat or comfort depending on what comes next.
I choose comfort. I choose to let him stay. I choose to believe that the craving between us can be something other than weapon or chain.
The choice is mine.