Page 233 of Alchemised
Her head shot up, and she stared in astonishment at the sight of Kaine in the doorway.
There was ice flecking his hair, lashes, and eyebrows, as if he’d come through a blizzard.
His eyes found her instantly, scanning her from head to toe. She stared back at him, a feeling like hunger rising inside her.
“What is it?” he asked as the door closed behind him. “Did something happen?”
“How did you know I was here?”
He levelled her with a hard stare. “I keep an eye on this place.”
Of course. Just because she hadn’t seen necrothralls didn’t mean they hadn’t seen her.
“Why are you here?” he asked again, scanning her from head to toe once more. “And unarmed, I might add.”
She’d hidden the knives in the lab. It would raise more questions than she could possibly answer if anyone saw them, and after Ilva’s reaction, they felt too personal to let anyone see them.
“I—didn’t know I was coming here. I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
“If it wasn’t on Resistance business, you shouldn’t have come.”
She nodded jerkily. Of course he was right. She should have just gone to the bridge.
And jumped.
No. She blinked the thought away. The whole reason Ilva and Crowther had lied to her for so long was because they knew Kaine would see straight through her. Her feelings were always stamped right on her face.
“You’re right. Sorry,” she said, her voice so hoarse it was barely more than a whisper. “I’ll go.”
She moved slowly, careful not to look at him, but as she passed, his fingers hooked her arm, swinging her around. Her back was against the wall as he stared her square in the face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She looked down quickly. His gaze was like a brand on the top of her head. “I just came because I was—worried about you.”
He scoffed. “Since when have you worried about me?”
She looked up without thinking.
His expression was hard. Defensive. The ice in his hair had melted into tiny droplets of water that trembled, glittering like stars on his face.
“I don’t know,” she confessed. The habit had crept up on her without her realising.
He scoffed. “And now—what? You suddenly can’t help yourself?”
“I came because I wanted to see you.” She realised only as she said it that it was the truth. That was why she’d come.
His throat dipped. “Why?”
Her chest tightened. “I’m afraid that someday I’ll come, and you—you won’t be here.”
He went still, his eyes darting across her face. His expression wavered, something she couldn’t decipher flickering in his eyes. He gave a low laugh. “Is this goodbye, then, Marino?”
The question jolted through her, and she reached out, grabbing hold of him. “No! No.”
A month.
She swallowed hard. “I got worried, and I—didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
