The command center faded behind them, but the weight of the conversation didn't.
Leah didn't argue when Kael took her by the wrist and led her toward the private wing of the tower.
She didn't fight him when the security doors sealed behind them, cutting them off from the rest of the world.
But she wasn't blind.
Kael wasn't speaking.
And that?
That was worse.
They moved through the dim corridors, past sleek, cold steel, past the hushed control of his domain.
Then a soft glow.
Kael stopped.
Right in front of the tank.
Leah's breath caught.
The aquarium shimmered, soft blue light flickering across Kael's face. Inside, sleek, silver-blue fish glided effortlessly through the water, their delicate fins catching the light like liquid metal.
Kael stared at them, silent.
His silver eyes reflected the water, but his expression?
Unreadable.
Leah's throat tightened, something uneasy pressing at the back of her ribs.
"You didn't have to do that." Her voice was quiet, but certain.
Kael's gaze didn't shift from the fish.
"Do what?"
Leah's fingers curled, pulse ticking in her wrist.
"Put yourself on the board."
Silence.
Then Kael exhaled slowly, his jaw flexing once before he finally turned toward her.
His silver eyes burned, but it wasn't anger.
It was something heavier.
Something she couldn't name.
"Would you have let me lose?"
The words hit harder than they should have.
Leah stilled, breath hitching.
"What?"
Kael took a step closer, his voice low, smooth, and absolute.
"If I hadn't put myself on the board—if I had waited like you wanted—" his silver eyes flickered, searching hers, "—would you have let me lose?"
Leah's stomach coiled, her heart slamming.
Because the answer was immediate.
And it was no.
She never would have.
She would have burned the board down before she let that happen.
But saying it?
That was something else.
Kael's eyes didn't waver.
"I need an answer, Leah."
Her breath shook.
Her walls wavered.
And then—her voice, soft but undeniable.
"No."
Kael's gaze flickered—something sharp, something hot, something dangerous—then he moved.
Not fast.
Not rough.
But with purpose.
His hands braced against the wall behind her, caging her without touching.
"Then why," his voice dropped, low and razor-edged, "do you keep running from me?"
Leah's pulse slammed.
But she had no answer.
Leah's back hit the wall, the cold steel biting through her clothes.
Kael was close.
Not touching her not yet; but his heat was everywhere, the air between them taut, electric, unrelenting.
His silver eyes burned, locked onto hers with razor-sharp intensity.
"Answer me, Leah." His voice was low, smooth, and absolute."Why do you keep running?"
Leah's throat tightened, her pulse pounding too fast, too hard.
Because there was no good answer.
Because this him, they was the one fight she couldn't win.
She dropped her gaze, trying to break the moment.
"I'm not running."
Kael's lips curled, something sharp flickering in his silver eyes.
"No?"
His fingers tilted her chin back up, forcing her to look at him.
Leah tensed, heat spiking through her veins.
"Then tell me," his voice dipped lower, rougher, "why you won't admit it?"
Leah's breath hitched, something sharp and dangerous twisting inside her.
"Admit what?"
Kael's jaw flexed, and for a second; his control cracked.
His hand moved, fingers grazing down her throat, slow, deliberate.
Not squeezing.
Just feeling.
The way her pulse raced beneath his fingertips.
"That you feel it too."
Leah's heart slammed.
Because he wasn't wrong.
The bond the pull was there, burning, twisting, clawing beneath her skin.
It had been there for years.
She had just fought it harder than he did.
Her hands curled into fists, her nails biting into her palms.
"This isn't the time for—"
"It's exactly the time." Kael's voice was smooth, lethal, unshakable.
"We leave in 48 hours. I don't have time for you to keep lying to yourself."
Leah's breathing sharpened, her entire body coiled tight.
"I'm not—"
"You are."
Kael's hand dropped, but he didn't step back.
Didn't give her space.
Didn't let her run.
"You said you wouldn't let me lose." His silver eyes burned into hers. "Then tell me, Leah—"
A breath—sharp, brutal, cutting.
"Why are you so afraid of letting me win?"
Silence.
Heavy. Suffocating.
Leah's fingernails bit deeper into her palm.
Because she knew.
She knew there would be no going back.
Kael didn't move.
His silver eyes burned, the circuits beneath his skin humming, tension coiling thick and heavy between them.
"If it's so bad," his voice was low, smooth, but edged with iron, "then tell me why."
Leah's chest tightened, her pulse pounding like a war drum.
"Voss—"
"No." His voice cut through her excuses, sharp as a blade. "No more talking around it. No more pretending. No more dodging."
He took a step closer, heat ghosting over her skin.
"Tell me—right now—" his voice dipped into something soft and lethal, "why it would be so bad."
Leah's throat worked, her hands tight at her sides.
"Because—" Her voice caught.
She could feel him—the weight of him, the gravity of what he was asking.
What he was forcing her to admit.
Kael's silver gaze never wavered.
"Say it."
Leah's jaw locked, her heart slamming against her ribs.
Because she knew the answer.
Because it wasn't bad.
Because it was the opposite.
Because if she let him have her—if she gave in—
She would never want to leave.
And that?
That was terrifying.
Kael's voice dropped into something soft, dangerous, unshakable.
"You're not afraid of losing me." His silver eyes burned. "You're afraid of what happens if you keep me."
The words hit deep, cutting through every wall she had built.
Leah's breath hitched, her chest aching.
Because what the hell was she supposed to say?
Kael's words had cut straight through her, ripping past every excuse she'd used to keep him at arm's length.
"You're not afraid of losing me. You're afraid of what happens if you keep me."
He wasn't wrong.
But if she said it out loud—if she admitted it—
Then she'd never be able to take it back.
Kael watched her, waiting, his silver eyes unrelenting.
"Still nothing?" His voice was low, calm, but edged with something darker.
Leah's jaw tightened, her breath shaky.
"This doesn't change anything."
Kael's lips curled, just slightly—like he'd expected that answer.
"You're right."
Leah blinked, her pulse stuttering.
"What?"
Kael tilted his head, gaze burning into hers.
"It doesn't change anything—except the fact that I'm done waiting."
Leah's stomach dropped.
"Voss—"
"No." His voice was smooth, cutting, absolute."No more running. No more excuses. You either tell me to stop, or you stop lying to yourself."
The air thickened, charged with something heavy, electric, inevitable.
Her fingers curled at her sides, nails biting into her palms.
She could end this.
Right now.
She could tell him no, walk out of this room, and pretend like this moment never happened.
…But she didn't.
Kael's silver eyes sharpened, catching the hesitation.
And just like that—
His lips barely curled, something wicked flickering behind his gaze.
"That's what I thought."
Leah's breath hitched, something hot and sharp twisting under her ribs.
Because he knew.
Kael Voss had just read her like a battle plan, like a goddamn open book, and he hadn't even touched her.
His silver gaze burned, steady, waiting.
"Say it." His voice was low, smooth, edged with finality."Tell me to stop."
Leah's throat tightened.
She should.
She should end this.
But her fingernails bit into her palm, and her body—traitorous, furious, aching—refused to move.
Kael exhaled slowly, his expression unreadable.
"That's what I thought."
Leah's chest coiled, something dangerous snapping between them.
"Voss—"
"No." His voice cut clean, razor-sharp."No more half-truths. No more dodging."
His gaze searched hers, silver and unrelenting, the heat between them coiling tight, suffocating.
"Tell me right now—" his voice dipped lower, something deadly and absolute threading through it,"—why you won't let yourself have this."
Leah's pulse slammed, her mind spinning too fast.
"Because—"
The words caught, stuck in her throat like barbed wire.
Kael's silver eyes flickered—knowing, sharp, cutting.
"Because if you do—" he stepped in closer, heat ghosting over her skin, "—you won't want to leave."
Leah's stomach dropped, her entire body locked.
Because that was it.
That was everything.
And she hated that he'd seen it so clearly.
Kael's lips curled, his silver gaze unshakable.
"And you think that's a bad thing?"
Leah's breath came fast, her pulse slamming against her ribs.
"I think—"
A sharp, clipped buzz cracked through the tension, splitting the moment wide open.