The cave mouth yawned like a wound in the hillside, jagged stone teeth framing the entrance. Inside, the air was cool and damp, carrying the faint echo of dripping water deeper within.
Mira set up a lantern, its glow chasing shadows along the walls. Harrow muttered something about watch rotations, already positioning himself near the entrance. The others settled quickly, exhaustion pressing them into silence.
Jane guided Levi to a smooth stone ledge near the back of the cave. "Sit. You need to rest."
Levi arched a brow but obeyed, folding her black wings around herself like a cloak. "You fuss over me as if I were fragile."
"You're not," Jane said, lowering herself beside her. "But you're not invincible either."
For a moment, the demon queen studied her in silence, her golden eyes catching the lantern light. Then her gaze drifted downward—to Jane's arm. The polished metal glimmered softly, each faint movement accompanied by a quiet whir of gears.
Levi's expression darkened. "That wound… was mine to give. My failure against Shax cost you your hand."
Jane stiffened at the words. Slowly, she flexed the fingers of the false limb, the joints clicking into place. "I chose that. I knew the risk when I ran to the switch."
Levi's eyes narrowed. "You could have died."
"But I didn't," Jane said firmly, meeting her gaze. "And if I hadn't done it, you'd still be locked in that chamber."
Silence stretched between them. Levi's wings shifted, her jaw tightening as though she wanted to argue—but the words wouldn't come.
Jane softened her voice. "Don't carry my choice like it's your sin. I don't regret it, Levi. Not for a second."
Something flickered in the queen's eyes then—fragile, dangerous, and unguarded. She reached out, fingertips hovering just above the seam where metal met flesh, though she didn't touch.
"You are stronger than you know," Levi murmured. "Perhaps stronger than me."
Jane's chest tightened. She wanted to deny it, to laugh it off, but the way Levi said it—soft, reverent—rooted her in silence.
They sat shoulder to shoulder against the stone, the lantern's glow casting long shadows across the walls.
For the first time, Jane felt the weight of Levi's gaze not as something terrifying, but as something steady—something that saw her as more than fragile, more than broken.
And for the first time, Levi allowed herself to lean, just slightly, into another's warmth.
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