"Can I ask you something," Lilith said.
"Yes."
She looked up. Met his eyes properly. "When you held me. That night. After the dungeon." She paused. "Was that....was that just because you felt sorry for me?"
Sebastian looked at her for a long moment.
"No," he said.
"Then why."
"Because you needed it," he said. "And because I needed to." He held her gaze. "Both things were true. Both things are still true."
She was quiet.
The kitchen was quiet.
Agnes's clock on the wall ticked steadily.
"I can feel something," Lilith said carefully. Like she was testing the words before she committed to them. "Since this morning. When I came back. Something....different. I don't know what it is. I don't know how to describe it." She touched her mark briefly. "It's not the bond. I know what the bond feels like now. This is something else. Something...." She stopped.
"Separate," Sebastian said.
Her eyes sharpened. "Yes. Separate. How did you...."
"Because I can feel it too," he said.
