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“And you… protected her.”

He lowered his gaze to the table, ready to just tell her everything and get it out of their way. “I still do.”

“But you’re not with her.” Her hand curled around her glass. The change was subtle—shoulders tighter, posture more exact. Her tone softened, but it was calculation.

“The bond we shared made her visible to our enemies,” Kaos said. “Severing the bond kept her safe.”

Her lips parted slightly as she inspected her water. “Yes. Thatbond. What was it like, exactly? How does a man like youbondwith aqueen?”

Kaos studied her, his powers pushing against the barricade he’d put up while hehuman’dhis way with her. She was still dropping crumbs, but they were no longer cute andlittle, they were chunks of need so potent that she forgot to hide it.

Honesty is critical with her.

“It was constant,” he said quietly. “Her presence never left me. I never had to reach for it. It was always there.”

Her expression shifted—curiosity touched with something deeper.

“And you… felt what she felt?”

“Yes.”

“Was it hard to let go?”

He locked his gaze on hers. “Very. But it was always about what she needed.”

Jaxi looked at the skyline now. Her posture eased but not fully. She picked up her glass with careful fingers and took a slow sip while he tracked the small changes—breath slowing, gaze focused on anything but him.

His powers again begged in his pores, needing to measure her temperature and pulse, learn what she folded down inside herself. But he resisted. Silently beckoning her to show herself to him.

“I’ve been kissed,” she said, eyes still fixed on the skyline. “Just never under fireworks.” The words came plain, without decoration. Without armor.

Kaos tracked the weight behind them. Her voice was steady, but something in the delivery pulled his attention tighter. She lifted her glass again, slower this time.

“That’s how I always pictured it,” she said quietly. “When it mattered.” She stayed focused on the rim of the glass. Her tone dimmed near the end as she adjusted the water in her hands again, once, then twice. But it solved nothing.

The image formed in Kaos’s mind—her standing under skyfire, waiting for someone to offer a moment she’d never claimfor herself. To be seen. Chosen. Measured. And somewhere in her silence, she had already determined she wouldn’t be.

His focus sharpened as something unstable pulsed beneath his skin. “That kind of moment,” he said, voice low, “isn’t given.”

Jaxi looked up, eyes locking on his.

“It’s taken,” he said. “By someone who sees it and decides it belongs to them.”

She held still. Her pulse ticked faster beneath the skin on her neck.

Kaos leaned in slightly, his voice quieter. “You’re still waiting for it to be offered.”

The server appeared beside their table. “Do you know what you’d like to order?”

Jaxi jumped, hand jerking just enough to rattle her glass. “Oh! Wow—yes, sorry! Didn’t even see you sneak up. Stealth mode. Love it.” She laughed once—loud, breathy—then buried her face in the menu. “Okay, um… let’s do the goat cheese flatbread, for sure. And the—ooh, the arugula salad with figs. Yes. That. Love figs. And arugula’s spicy, right? That’s fun.”

The server nodded once. “Would you like to add a protein to the salad?”

“Sure. Chicken. Grilled. No, wait—salmon. Unless chicken’s easier. Or, like… standard? Whatever’s normal.”

“Grilled chicken it is.”

“And wine,” she added, waving at the empty space in front of her. “Whatever red you think pairs well with mild goat cheese and awkward tension.”