Page 156 of The Obedient Lie
And that… that made my chest hurt.
I brushed his hair back.
“You’re not used to being looked after,” I whispered.
He didn’t answer right away.
“We were raised to survive. Not be soft.”
I swallowed.
Bastion’s eyes searched mine, something thick and unreadable in them.
“I like it when you’re soft with us,” he said, voice quieter. “Even when I hate that I like it.”
I didn’t know what to say to that.
So I didn’t say anything.
I just kept brushing his hair back until he closed his eyes again.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
EMILIA
The meeting ran longer than it needed to. Something about scheduling, course structure, an update to dynasty-level civics.
None of it mattered.
Not really.
Whatdidmatter was the sinking feeling in my gut as I made my way back toward the dorm. Like something had shifted while I was gone. Like I’d missed something important.
The hallway was quiet when I reached the door.
Tooquiet.
Then I heard it?—
Raised voices.
Two of them.
Muffled but heated.
I froze just outside the door.
“I told you we should’ve have let her look after us. We’ve scared her off?—”
“So if she needed space. You think crowding her would’ve helped?”
Luca and Bastion.
They werearguing.
Over me.
A cold flush crept over my skin.
