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"You took something from me," I murmur, shifting slightly, letting the words settle like a weight between us. "And now I’ve taken something from you."
He knows where this is going.
I can see it in the flicker behind his eyes.
I smile, slow and cold. "I’ll trade you."
His expression doesn’t change.
But I can feel the way his hunger shifts. The way it sharpens. The way he’s already considering it. Because he needs her. And I need them.
And we both know how this is going to end.
"You’re telling me…" Severin’s voice is smooth, measured, and distrustful. As he should be. "If I release them, you’ll give me the girl?"
I smile. Slow. Patient.
Letting him sit with it.
Letting him wonder if I’ll do it.
Because, of course, the answer is no. I cannot, will not, hand Layla over. Not because I care about her. Not because she is innocent. But because doing so would destroy Luna.
And that, that, is something I will not allow. But I don’t have to tell him that. I only need to stall. Because Luna is already looking for them.
I feel it before I even glance at her. That pull, that sharpened focus, the way her breath changes, the way her fingers twitch.
And when I do glance at her.
Her gaze is locked on a window in the fortress.
There.
One of them is there. Silas or Riven. And they’ve seen her. And they know. And they will free themselves.
I drag my gaze back to Severin, who is still watching me, waiting for an answer, his body taut with restraint.
I tip my head slightly.
"Do I look like someone who makes bad deals?" I ask lightly.
He exhales through his nose, unimpressed. "Yes."
Orin shifts beside me, calm and unbothered as ever. Elias makes a quiet choking noise, like he’s physically holding back from saying something deeply stupid.
I ignore them.
Severin is still searching my face, waiting for something he will not get.
Because he knows I am lying. But the problem for him? He still wants to believe me. Because I have something he cannot resist. Because he needs her. So I just stand there, watching, waiting.
And in the distance, just beyond that fortress window.
A shadow moves.
Good.
It’s working.