CHAPTER 39

Lucian straightened, slow and controlled, like nothing had just happened. Like he hadn’t been standing too close, saying things he had no business saying. His expression settled back into something unreadable, the faint amusement gone, replaced with calm indifference.

Kael stepped fully into the living room.

Vera followed behind him.

Neither of them spoke.

For a moment, the only sound in the room was the soft echo of their footsteps fading into silence.

Aaron forced himself to sit up properly, dragging in a quiet breath as if that would steady him. It didn’t. His pulse was still uneven, his thoughts scattered in a way he couldn’t explain.

Lucian noticed,

His gaze flicked toward Aaron briefly, just long enough to register everything—the tension in his shoulders, the way he avoided looking up, the way his fingers pressed too hard against his own knee.

Then Lucian looked away like it didn’t matter.

Like none of it mattered.

Vera’s eyes moved between them slowly.

She didn’t miss things, She never did.

Something was off.

She couldn’t name it yet, but she could feel it. The air was different. Thicker. Like something had just happened and she had walked in too late to see it.

Her gaze lingered on Aaron for a second longer than necessary.

Then shifted to Lucian.

He met her eyes without hesitation, calm as ever.

Too calm.

Kael stepped forward.

“Sit.”

Aaron leaned back into the couch again, this time without the earlier restlessness. He kept his focus forward, deliberately avoiding looking at anyone for too long.

Vera didn’t sit immediately.

Her eyes were still moving, scanning, picking up on details that didn’t line up.

Kael’s voice came again, quieter this time.

“Sit, Vera.”

She looked at him.

There was something in his expression she didn’t like. Something controlled. Measured.

It made her chest tighten slightly.

But she sat.

Kael remained standing for a second, his gaze moving across the room, taking in all three of them like he was assessing something only he understood.

Then he sat down opposite them.

Vera leaned back slowly, her fingers resting against her lap, but her eyes stayed sharp.

“What’s going on?”

No one answered immediately.

Lucian shifted slightly in his seat, resting his arm against the back of the couch, his posture relaxed in contrast to the tension in the room.

Kael’s gaze flicked toward him briefly.

A quiet warning.

Lucian ignored it.

Vera noticed that too.

Her frown deepened.

“I asked a question.”

Aaron swallowed.

Lucian spoke before Kael could.

“You didn’t tell her?”

The words were light,

But they landed exactly where they were meant to.

Vera’s head turned toward Kael instantly.

“Tell me what?”

Kael didn’t respond right away.

His jaw tightened slightly, his eyes fixed on Lucian now.

There was something sharp in that look.

Something restrained.

Lucian held it without flinching.

“You’re dragging this,” he said calmly. “That’s not like you.”

Vera’s patience snapped a little.

“Okay, enough.”

She leaned forward slightly, her eyes locked on Kael now.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

Kael exhaled slowly through his nose.

For a moment, it looked like he might dismiss it.

Like he might brush it off and change the subject.

But he didn’t.

Instead, he stood.

The movement was sudden enough to pull everyone’s attention back to him.

Vera’s eyes followed him as he walked toward her

He stopped right in front of her.

Close enough that she had to tilt her head slightly to meet his eyes.

“You want answers?” he asked.

His voice was low.

Vera held his gaze.

“Yes.”

A brief pause.

Then—

“Then stop pretending you don’t remember.”

The words hit harder than she expected.

For a second, she didn’t react.

Didn’t move.

Didn’t even breathe properly.

Her brows pulled together slightly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Kael didn’t step back.

“You do.”

“No, I don’t.”

Her voice came out sharper now, edged with frustration.

Kael’s gaze didn’t waver.

“You’re just choosing not to.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Doesn’t it?”

Vera stood up.

Now they were face to face.

Close enough that the tension between them wasn’t something anyone in the room could ignore.

“If you have something to say, say it clearly,” she said. “Stop talking like I’m supposed to understand something I don’t.”

Kael leaned in slightly.

Not enough to invade her space completely.

Just enough to make his presence impossible to ignore.

“You felt it upstairs.”

Vera’s breath caught.

Just for a second.

Her expression shifted.

Kael saw it.

“So don’t stand here and tell me you don’t know.”

“I—” She stopped.

Because he was right.

She had felt something.

Something she couldn’t explain.

Something that didn’t make sense.

But that didn’t mean—

“That doesn’t mean I remember anything,” she said, more quietly now.

“Then what was it?” he asked.

She didn’t answer.

Because she didn’t have one.

Silence stretched again.

Lucian watched the exchange with quiet interest, his expression unreadable but his attention sharp.

Aaron sat still, his hands clasped loosely now, but his eyes were no longer fixed on the floor.

He was watching them.

Carefully.

Vera shook her head slightly.

“This is ridiculous.”

She stepped back.

“I don’t remember anything. I don’t know what you think I’m supposed to say.”

Kael’s voice followed her.

“You remember enough.”

She stopped.

Slowly turned back.

“What does that mean?”

Kael didn’t answer immediately.

His gaze dropped briefly to her hands.

Then back to her face.

“Say it.”

Her brows furrowed.

“Say what?”

Kael took a step closer again,

whatever you think you remember

“Stop lying to yourself.”

“I’m not lying!”

Her voice rose this time, Frustrated.

There was a flicker of something else beneath it now.

Something unstable.

Kael didn’t react to the volume.

“If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be this defensive.”

Vera let out a breath, shaking her head again.

“This is insane.”

She pressed her fingers briefly into her temple,

her expression changed.

Kael saw it immediately.

“Say it,” he repeated.

Her breathing slowed.

Her eyes unfocused for a second, like she was trying to catch something slipping away.

Aaron leaned forward slightly without realizing.

Lucian’s gaze sharpened.

“What did you remember?” Kael asked.

Vera blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Her head tilted slightly, like she was listening to something distant.

“I…” she started, then stopped,

The room felt smaller.

She swallowed.

“There was—” She hesitated again.

Kael didn’t interrupt.

Didn’t rush her.

For the first time since he walked in, he was still.

Completely still.

“Someone,” she said finally.

The word came out uncertain.

Her brows pulled together.

“Or… no… not someone…”

She shook her head slightly, frustrated.

“It doesn’t make sense.”

“Say it anyway,” Kael said.

Her gaze lifted to his.

There was something different in her eyes now.

Less confusion, More focus.

-- Aaron’s fingers tightened slightly.

Lucian leaned back again, his expression unreadable.

Kael’s eyes stayed locked on Vera.

“Vera.”

She blinked.

Her focus snapped back.

But something had changed.

Something had clicked.

Her gaze moved over his face slowly.

Carefully.

Like she was seeing him differently now.

Not just as he was standing in front of her—

But as something else.

Something from before.

“You didn’t tell me,” she said quietly.

Kael didn’t respond.

"you already knew,” she continued.

Her eyes didn’t leave his.

And you didn’t say anything.”

A beat passed.

Then another.

The air felt heavier again, Not confusion anymore.

Something closer to realization.

Vera took a small step forward.

Her voice dropped slightly.

“You were there too.”