Selene
It started like a storm you didn't see coming.
Quiet at first.
Azriel had barely said a word all evening. No teasing. No soft touches. Just clipped nods, tense shoulders, and that awful silence that settled between us like dust.
Until he snapped.
"You can't keep doing this," he said, and it sounded almost calm.
Almost.
I looked up from the maps we'd been reviewing. "Doing what?"
His jaw clenched, eyes dark and sharp as blades. "Throwing yourself in front of everything like your life doesn't matter."
I blinked. "That's not what I'm doing—"
"You ran straight into Grace's vision, Selene. You didn't know what it would do to you. You didn't even hesitate."
"We saved thirty-seven people."
"That's not the point!"
His voice cracked across the room like thunder.
I stood slowly, the edge in his tone slicing through me. "Then what is the point, Azriel? That I didn't ask for permission?"
"That you didn't think about what it would do to you. Or to me."
Oh.
There it was.
