Page 40

I stood inside the bathroom, the soft patter of water fading as I ran a towel through my damp hair.

Hunter’s shirt hung loosely on me, the fabric warmed from his scent even as my mind still raced with thoughts of the Riftkeeper’s and the horrific things I’d seen.

I didn’t want to keep thinking about it, and I didn’t want the panic to creep back in, but it was hard and draining.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the bathroom door and entered the bedroom.

Hunter was sitting at the edge of the bed, shoulders hunched, staring intently at the ground.

His jeans were damp as they hung low on his hips, but his chest was bare, the muscles in his back and arms tensing as if he was holding something back.

I took a step closer, uncertain but drawn in by the heaviness of his silence.

“Hey,” I whispered like an absolute fool. He looked up, and something raw and unguarded flickered across his eyes, almost as if darkness lurked behind them.

I frowned, and without another word, I crossed the space between us and sat beside him, close enough that our knees touched. “Thank you, by the way,” I said. “For what you did back there.”

He kept silent as he reached for me, his touch gentle as he tucked a damp curl of hair behind my ear. My breath hitched as I felt his finger brush against my cheek, and I shivered in response.

“How—” I licked my lips. “How did you know how to calm me down?” I tried to keep on the topic of conversation. It wasn’t the first time he had witnessed me in full panic mode, but this time it was different. Marnie wasn’t here to emotionally heal me; it was Hunter who took the lead without a fault.

“I used to have panic attacks when I was younger,” he finally said, and my heart instantly ached for him.

“At first, my powers used to scare me. I’d break everything with my strength and accidentally hurt people, so.

.. my brother, to calm me down, would sit with me in the shower. The cold water used to help.”

“And now?” I said. “Do you no longer get them?”

He shook his head. “I haven’t had one since you joined Celestia.”

My heart cracked wide open at his admission. I didn’t even think he realized the impact those words just had on me.

“Was it because you were too busy trying to make me quit?” I tried joking. It was terrible timing.

Though it somehow worked when he chuckled softly. “Maybe,” he said. “Or maybe you just... I don’t know. You made things feel different.”

My breath hitched slightly. “Different how?”

He hesitated, his gaze flicking away for a moment before finding mine again. “Like you being here reminded me that maybe not everything has to be so dark and twisted. Maybe there’s... still a way to hold onto something good.”

My heart stumbled in my chest. Hunter, the one who rarely let anyone in, who wanted me to quit on the first day, had just said something that stripped away at every wall he’d built around himself.

“So does that make us... friends now?” I asked softly, trying to ignore the flutter of nerves in my chest.

He stared at me for a moment, then, he shook his head, and a quiet, almost resigned chuckle escaped his lips. “No,” he said. “I don’t think we could ever be just friends.”

I supposed he was right. But then, what were we?

We became quiet for a minute, and then my hand lifted, almost of its own accord, brushing against his shoulder. “I’m sorry by the way—about tonight. I know it didn’t work out how you’d hoped,” I said quietly, “maybe we could try again next week—”

He hushed me, shaking his head as he leaned in, and our foreheads touched. Suddenly, all the tension and confusion of the night faded, replaced by this moment only. I was a solid being yet melting from his warmth, and just as I started whispering his name, he pressed his lips to mine.

The kiss was soft and tentative at first, but it quickly deepened with a fire sparking to life as our hands tangled in each other’s hair, pulling each other closer.

Hunter’s hands found my waist, pulling me into his lap as he kissed me with a hunger that mirrored my own.

His touch was rough yet careful, forbidden yet so unlawfully right.

His fingers moved along my back as if he needed to feel every inch of me to know I was real.

I let my fingers trace the lines of his shoulders, neck, and toned chest until his warmth seeped into me, making everything else disappear.

He tugged my shirt up, and I lifted my arms, letting him slide it off. My skin tingled as his eyes roamed over me. My chest wasn’t on the big side, and I had never done anything with a boy before, yet the way Hunter’s gaze filled with something deep, something lustful, I felt alive.

Yeah... we could never be friends.

But I also knew deep down that this was a mistake—that there were heavy reasons why this shouldn’t happen. I could see the same war in Hunter’s eyes as he pulled back for only a second, but neither of us stopped.

Our breaths grew ragged with each kiss, with each touch and caress, but just as I began to unbuckle his belt, he froze.

His hand stilled, his grip loosening as he pulled back.

His forehead pressed against mine, and his eyes remained closed as he fought to regain control.

“Grace,” he breathed, voice thick with restraint. “We can’t—”

I nodded, though I felt drawn for just one more kiss. No, a thousand more.

I leaned in again, and he took my mouth in his like it belonged to him and only him. His hands ran up my back and into my damp curls, pulling me towards him like there was still too much space between us.

“Grace,” he said again but to me it sounded like a painful plea. When I went in again, he shook his head. “We can’t do this. I shouldn’t have...”

The words hung in the air as I kept my eyes closed, knowing that if I opened them, this moment would disappear. Maybe forever.

“I know,” I whispered thickly, like a lump had formed in my throat, and I couldn’t swallow it.

He stood, gently lifting me off him, and I blinked the sting out of my eyes as I finally came to. He reached for my shirt, his eyes soft but distant as he handed it to me. “Get dressed,” he said quietly. “I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

I nodded again, feeling hollow, as he zipped up his hoodie and left the room. Staring at the door, I clung to the shirt he had given me, wishing he would have rejected me completely rather than tell me we couldn’t do this with the known fact that it would ruin his chances as an Ascendant.