'How am I going to do this?'
The elevator hummed as it climbed, a low, steady vibration that rattled through Eli's bones. The soft golden light inside cast long, fractured shadows across the mirrored steel walls, their reflections moving in tandem like silent ghosts.
Eli stood stiffly at Kairo's side, shoulders locked, palms clammy, every nerve in his body screaming at him to do something—anything—but his mind was chaos.
'Okay… think, think, think. Compliments aren't gonna work on him. If I say "you're handsome," he'll just… stare at me. And not in a good way. Just—stone-faced, void of emotion, like a goddamn gargoyle.'
He bit his lip, darting a glance at the taller man. Kairo didn't move.
Not a single twitch.
The black-eyed hunter stood tall, posture perfect, his broad shoulders filling the coat draped over him like a mantle of shadow.
His reflection in the mirrored steel was so sharp, so still, it might as well have been another person entirely.
