The hallway smelled like dust and takeout containers when I got back. My key scraped in the lock, door hinges groaning like they wanted me to just give up and move out.

  Except when I stepped inside, the apartment didn’t smell like week-old pizza or garlic bread. It smelled… good. Too good.

  Something simmered on the stove. Herbs, butter, a hint of wine. My stomach growled loud enough to echo off the cabinets.

  “Welcome home, Danny.”

  Lily’s voice floated from the kitchenette. She stood at the counter, plating pasta like the kind you’d see in a magazine spread. Cream sauce gleamed under the low light, flecked with pepper and fresh herbs. A basket of warm bread sat beside it, steam rising like a gastrointestinal invitation.

  And were those scallops sitting in that sauce? What the hell?

  And Lily herself—well, she’d dressed for battle. A soft blouse tucked into a skirt that flared just enough to suggest curves, not flaunt them. Stockings that hugged her fit legs. Her copper hair gleamed in the kitchen glow, catching sparks of gold as she brushed a lock behind one ear. Demure, tasteful, deadly effective.

  “Uh.” I hovered in the doorway, suddenly very aware of my hoodie and bandaged arm. “Did I… miss a holiday?”

  She smiled sweetly. Too sweetly. “Sit. Eat. You look like you’ve been running yourself ragged.”

  Warning alarms went off in my head. I obeyed because my stomach betrayed me. She wouldn’t let me sit until I’d washed my hands. The barbarian doesn’t vanish easily… But the plate slid in front of me, hot, fragrant, probably infused with a dozen kinds of sorcery even if she’d sworn off trying to use her powers on me. I twirled a forkful, chewed, and nearly wept.

  “This is amazing,” I mumbled around a mouthful.

  “I’m glad.” She sat opposite, resting her chin on her hand, eyes sharp despite the softness of her pose. “Tell me, Danny. Where were you?”

  I froze mid-bite. “Out.”

  “Out,” she echoed. “With Elly?”

  I coughed, nearly inhaling pasta. “What? No—why would—”

  Her gaze cut through me. “You come back smelling of secrets. Of tension. And of her. I may not be able to read you the way I can others, but the echoes are there. You don’t lie cleanly, Danny.”

  I set my fork down, hands raised. “Look, I swear it’s not like that. Elly’s my friend. That’s all.”

  Her lips curved, but not in humor. “Eury’s too cold for you. She’d never bother. Elly, though…” Her nails tapped a rhythm on the table. “She watches you when you’re not looking. You make her laugh. And you—”

  I groaned. “Don’t finish that sentence.”

  “—you blush, Daniel. Every time her hand brushes yours.”

  I dropped my face into my palms. “This is ridiculous. You think I’m sneaking around behind your back? I’ve got enough problems without adding love triangle drama.”

  “Quadrangle,” she corrected softly. “And you haven’t denied it.”

  “I just did!” I snapped. “I’m not sleeping with Elly. I’m not sleeping with anyone.”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  That landed harder than I meant. Her eyes flickered, hurt flashing before the mask returned. “I’m no one?”

  My chest ached. “That’s not what I—Lily.”

  “It meant something, despite the circumstances.”

  “I know! Really.” I gathered my wits, scattered though they were… “Listen. I care about you. I’m just… trying to keep you safe.”

  Her chair scraped back. She rose slowly, anger radiating like heat off pavement. “Safe,” she repeated, her lips twisting at saying that word. “You think keeping me in the dark keeps me safe? You think lying to me does?”

  Before I could answer, the air shifted. Thickened.

  Her pupils dilated, glow creeping along the edges. The pheromonal pressure she normally contained spilled loose in a wave.

  It hit me like a warm gust, heady and sweet, but dulled against my null nature. Outside of the apartment, others were not so lucky. Dogs erupted into barking, claws skittering against hardwood in the room overhead. A couple down the hall launched into a screaming match, words muffled partly by drywall. Somewhere below us, laughter spiked into manic giggles. And from the street outside, the low, unmistakable groan of someone making out against a car hood carried upward.

  I sat frozen as the wave rolled over everything.

  Then, just as suddenly, she reeled it back. Breath shaky, hands braced on the counter.

  Silence pressed in, broken only by the drip of sauce from my fork back onto the plate.

  “Lily,” I said softly.

  She didn’t look at me. “Don’t you dare treat me like I’m fragile. Not after everything.”

  “I’m not,” I said quickly. “I just—God, I don’t know what I’m doing. But I don’t want to lose you. Or any of you. That’s all.”

  Her jaw tightened. She reached for her coat, still not meeting my eyes. “Then stop treating me like a porcelain doll, Danny. Because porcelain breaks.”

  The door shut hard enough behind her to rattle the frame.

  “Aww hell.” I groaned.

  And I sat alone, half-finished pasta cooling in front of me, wondering how I’d managed to screw up dinner and possibly everything else in one night.

  The phone buzzed on the nightstand. I’d been lying there in the dark, staring at the ceiling, pretending I might sleep, but the screen’s glow made that a lie.

  The notification flashed red, how I’d set it up for Lily notifications.

  I thumbed it on, heart twisting. “Hey.”

  For a beat, there was only her breath, uneven, like she’d been walking fast or holding back tears. “Danny.”

  Her voice cracked.

  I sat up, rubbing my face. “Lily. You okay?”

  “No.” The word was a whisper. Then: “Yes. I don’t know.” A strained laugh followed, brittle. “I shouldn’t have stormed out. That wasn’t fair, and it probably ruined the meal I worked so hard on.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose. “You had every right. I wasn’t exactly handling things well either.”

  Silence. Then, softly: “Why are you shutting me out?”

  My stomach knotted. “I’m not—”

  “You are.” She cut me off, sharp despite the break in her tone. “You don’t tell me anything anymore. You go off with them, you come back bloodied, burnt, tired, smelling of danger, and I’m supposed to just sit here and wait? Like I didn’t almost die for you? Like you didn’t…” Her voice dropped to a thread. “Like we didn’t share what we did?”

  The memory punched me in the gut. The ruined floor. Her pale, gasping face. The desperate act that had saved her life, not love or passion but raw survival. It still haunted me.

  “Lily,” I whispered, “I’m trying to protect you.”

  “That’s my job.” Her voice flared with sudden fire, then cracked again. “Don’t you get it? You saved me, Danny. You gave me back my life. I owe you. And all I want—all I want—is to keep you safe the way you did for me.”

  I stared at the ceiling, throat tight. “That’s not how it works.”

  “Why not?” she demanded. “Why do Elly and Eury get to risk themselves and I get locked out? Why am I on the sidelines while you bleed for everyone else?”

  Her words hit the sore spot I’d been trying not to touch. Jealousy, tangled with guilt. She wanted in. She wanted me to let her in.

  “Because…” My voice was rough. “Because if something happened to you again, I couldn’t take it. Not twice.”

  The silence that followed stretched long. Too long. Then she exhaled, ragged.

  “So, you’re just going to keep breaking yourself for me instead of taking my help?”

  I shut my eyes. “Maybe. Yes? Better me than you.”

  “Danny—” her tone was pleading now, raw— “please, just let me help. Please. You don’t understand what this is like for me. I’m used to having people serve me, not the other way around. I don’t know how to operate in a situation where you won’t serve me, and I can’t even help you.”

  The lump in my throat was too thick to swallow. “I’ll… think about it.”

  It was the closest I could come to honesty.

  Another long pause. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely audible: “That’s not good enough for me.”

  The line clicked dead before I could answer.

  I let the phone fall back to the sheets, the ceiling blurring above me.

  I wanted to protect her. But I wasn’t sure if my way of doing it was just pushing her farther away.