Chapter Twenty-Five #2
The Southern Peaks slice across the horizon, capped with fresh snow. Afternoon light drapes them in soft golds and pinks, but the beauty offers no warmth. A crisp breeze cuts through instead carrying the clean bite of winter air and the faint scent of frost.
It brushes against my skin, fills my lungs, until the whole world feels harsher, brighter, impossible to look away from.
Beside me, Talen drops down, legs swinging over the ledge as he leans back against the wall, exhaling slow.
“You gonna sit?” he asks.
“I think I'll stay standing.”
“Suit yourself.”
I stay still, keep my eyes on the ridge lines. It’s easier than looking at him.
“I still don’t get it... you just suddenly forgive me for your brother’s death?”
“Who said anything about forgiveness?” His jaw ticks, but gaze stays forward.
“Don’t you think I miss my brother every damn day?
He should be here now... sitting beside me.
” A pause, voice dropping lower, rougher.
“But there are darker things in this world than my personal vendettas. Shadows that don’t care about borders or bloodlines. ”
“So what, keeping me alive is some kind of noble cause now? Save the useless Outerlander girl because there are shadows to worry about?”
“Look,” He snaps, turning his head towards me now.
“I don’t want this, any of it. Being chained to you like this, pretending in front of everyone?
” He shakes his head. “Don’t fool yourself into thinking I enjoy it.
I’d hand you a truth-string for that any day without hesitation.
” His stare sharpens, and my chest clamps tight.
“But this isn’t about noble causes, I didn't do it just for you. It’s about answers, and until I have mine, you stay alive.
And that starts with you stopping the questions.
” He turns back to the view, fist tightening, voice too.
“Some truths don’t just ruin you, they ruin everything.
People. Cities. Orders. I’ve seen it. I’ve caused it.
You want that blood on your hands? Your friends back home, your friends here?
Ezzy, Finn, Rowan? Fine, keep digging and you’ll find out what it costs. ”
“So that’s it?” I push. “We pretend to date until you get your answers and then what? Then you kill me?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. But like the truce… You don’t really have a choice, do you?”
Every instinct in me wants to push, force something out of him. Demand answers, threaten him, call his bluff. Just get something, anything, real.
But if I do that, go for blood now, I know I won’t win. I’ll just blow my leverage. And maybe the only shot I have at keeping Ezzy, Finn, and Rowan out of all this.
So I take a breath and choke down the instinct to push. Just two weeks. That’s all I have left—to survive this place, find the journals, and get out without anyone else bleeding for my mistakes.
I knew he wasn’t going to hand over answers that easily, he’s too calculated for that. But still, staying close, listening, watching the cracks form around him? Waiting for something or someone in his orbit to slip? That’s where the real advantage is.
I just have to play this right.
“Fine.” I bite out. “But if we’re doing this, it’s on my terms.”
He crosses his arms, gaze steady as that crooked grin slides back into place. “Didn’t think you’d make it easy, let’s hear them.”
“Rule one,” I say, tipping my chin. “You don’t touch my people. Ezzy. Finn. Rowan. Not with your hands. Not with your games.”
“Fine.”
“Rule two. No kissing. No touching. And you stay the hell out of my dorm.”
The corner of his mouth twitches. “Didn’t you like the rose?
Clever, wasn’t it? Thorns without the bloom.
Felt fitting. And the duck…” He tilts his head.
“I thought you’d be happy to have it back.
Whoever made it, impressive work. I’d been wondering how you were keeping that erratic magic of yours in check.
Clever trick, but it’s just a patch—not a solution.
And when it fails, which it will, you’ll have nothing. ”
“Well, luckily, I don’t plan on sticking around here much longer.”
“Shame... Your magic could’ve been something.”
I ignore him and continue, “So we agree,” hands tightening at my sides. “No kissing. No touching. And you stay the hell out of my dorm.”
“Fine. Your boundaries, your rules. I’ll respect them.”
I blink, studying his face. Waiting for the smirk, the dig, the catch. But nothing.
“Anyway,” he continues, glancing out over the ledge, “are we done? Told you the view was worth it. Add it to your list of secrets. I’d rather keep this spot quiet, most people don’t know it’s here.”
“I didn't take you for the quiet, reflective type...”
“I usually come up here to draw.”
"You? Drawing?" The judgement slips out before I bother to filter it.
“Yes... you seem surprised?”
Makes sense why his handwriting was so elegant. Still...
“Would you blame me, given the past few weeks? You've not exactly made a good first impression, death threats and all. Just figured you were so busy killing or Reassigning innocent people that you wouldn't have time for... hobbies.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me that would surprise you, Bloom.” He nods toward the Southern Peaks. “You know what’s over there? Past those mountains? The old kingdom of Aurelia. What’s left of it, anyway. Ruins now.”
He uncrosses his arms, elbows settling on his knees as he leans forward.
“I come up here to look at it. Remind myself what happens when power goes unchecked. The monarchy ruled by bloodline, entitlement dressed as destiny. People worshipped a name, a lineage. As if that was enough to make someone worthy of ruling, it wasn’t.
Chaos and war followed, and your people?
They didn’t stand their ground; they ran.
Watched it fall and walked away, let others clean it up.
” His tone hardens. “History doesn’t stay buried.
And if we’re not careful, it’ll claw its way back and crown itself all over again. ”
For the first time, I see past the mask. Not arrogance, not mockery. Pain. Old and jagged, like something carried too long.
But it doesn’t stop the heat flaring in my chest. Ran. That’s what he thinks of us. That we fled while his people stayed and fought. We didn’t run, we refused to kneel. Refused to sign their damn treaty and call it peace.
“Hey, Goldie?” Lucien’s voice cuts around the corner, loud against the stillness.
“Shit,” Talen mutters, already on his feet.
“What—” The word barely leaves me before he catches my wrist and pulls, quick and certain.
Cold stone slams against my back, air crushed from my lungs as one arm clamps down over my chest, holding me to the wall, the other locks down over my mouth. Leather and smoke, edged with something burnt, close in around me before I can stop them.
“Shhh,” he breathes, eyes flicking toward the corner where Lucien’s voice came from.
I shift to break free, but he doesn’t move. His body holds, solid and immovable, the full weight of him anchoring me in place. Heat and pressure surge through the contact, stealing any logical thoughts.
God, I forgot how big he is, how the space shrinks when he’s in it, how he makes everything feel smaller. And fuck, he’s not just tall—he’s all hard lines and lethal strength, muscle carved like a weapon, pressed so close I can feel every inch of it. Built for war. And far too good at it.
“I know you’re out here, Goldie,” Lucien calls again, voice slow with lazy confidence.
Trying again, I move, attempt to duck low, slide beneath his arm. But he just presses back harder, thigh slipping between mine and something inside me falters hard.
“Come on,” Lucien adds, louder now. “I know you don’t want to, but we need you up there tonight. Don’t make me beg. It’s pathetic.”
Talen doesn’t answer, just mutters another curse under his breath.
Finally, Lucien’s voice drifts off as he moves away. “Ten minutes, by the barracks. If you ghost us, Merrin’s gonna lose his shit.”
The door clicks shut, yet the pressure holds. Talen’s weight still pressed against me, one arm across my chest, the other sealing my mouth. Head still turned, he watches the ledge as if the door might swing open again.
His chest rises—once, twice—hard against mine before those dark eyes drop to meet me.
For a heartbeat, he stiffens—just a flicker, like the closeness hits him all at once.
Then his hand moves, and something dark coils low in my gut as it drifts back from my mouth, fingers trailing down my skin.
Not rushed. Not apologetic. Just... intentional.
Rough knuckles skim my jaw, tracing the line of my neck, so light it hurts. Then—
“I have to go,” he murmurs, body still hard, hot, against mine. “But I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I flash a sarcastic smile back, one corner of my mouth curling just enough to mask the twist in my stomach. “Can’t wait.”
“You joke,” he warns. “But if we’re doing this, and you actually want it to work, you’re going to have to learn to play along.
” His gaze drops to my mouth. My spine straightens, hands twitch at my sides, caught somewhere between staying still and doing something reckless.
“I’ll respect your boundaries, but you’re going to have to start trusting me. ”
Breath brushes my skin, as he leans in, barely, but enough to drag memory to the surface: the taste of him, the drag of those lips on mine. My mouth parts before I can stop it, my body tilting a fraction forward.
He’s not kissing me. He’s not kissing me.
But if he did…
His eyes narrow, shifting back to mine. “Because if we screw this up, if anyone sees through it, it’s not just you getting Reassigned. It’s both of us. And I am not willing to let that happen.”
Chest still rising hard, he doesn’t move. Neither do I. The whole world narrows to the heat between us and the thrum under my skin as he catches his bottom lip between his teeth.
Then he exhales and steps back, running a hand through his dark waves, dragging tension out of his shoulders.
“But I think we’ll be fine,” he chuckles. “You’re already so damn convincing. Almost had me thinking there that you wanted to go for round two.”
My lips pull thin as a flush flares up my cheeks, heart kicking hard, but I shove it down, bury it where he can’t see.
I want to slap that Veirmont smirk off his face. Better yet, slice it clean off. Maybe then my body would stop betraying me every time he’s near.
But instead, I move. A clean, deliberate step in—close enough to see the flicker of confidence in his eyes. Then my knee shifts up fast and hard. The satisfying thud to his groin knocks his grin sideways. Breath hissing, he doubles an inch, one hand reaches out to brace on the wall behind me.
“How’s that for round two?” I ask, folding my arms as he looks up, eyes glinting through the pain.
“Not bad, Thorn,” he rasps. “Was that part of the agreement? Don’t remember signing the physical abuse clause.”
I arch a brow. “Feel free to draft an amendment.”
“Well, this has been a real pleasure,” he laughs, wincing as he pushs off the wall, straightening. “But I need to find Luc before you do any real damage.”
Talen pulls a key from his pocket and starts walking back across the narrow ledge to the locked door.
I narrow my eyes. “I thought you said there was a way down from this side...”
He flashes a smile over his shoulder. “One thing you should’ve figured out by now, Bloom, is that I lie.
A lot. But only when it helps people.” He slips the key into the door.
“And right now, you need help getting over your stupid fear of heights.” The lock clicks open.
“See you tomorrow. Five o’clock. Food hall. Our next date.”
He steps through, and then he’s gone, leaving the door open behind him.
Shit. The light’s fading fast, shadows already bleeding up the walls. I’ve got no real answers, and now I’ve got to get down from this goddamn ledge on my own.
Perfect. Just perfect.