LOGINI should have known. Fuck, as soon as I felt my body burning, I should have fucking known and gotten out of here.
It was better to be out on the streets in my rut than to be in the same room with this woman. “Wow,” she whispered as she knelt before me, grabbing my jaw and forcing my head to look up at her. “I never thought I would get to see the almighty Kade Varkas looking this… pathetic. But I got to say, it’s a good look on you. Look at you, your face all flushed, your breathing laboured and your eyes crossed over.” Her nails dug into my jaw and because every cell in my body was on edge, that touch hurt. “It’s turning me on.” And she was turned on. I could smell it and it made me want to throw up on her face. I turned my face away from her, but I didn't have any strength so I couldn't even free myself from that little hold. “Are you hard, Kade?” she asked, her other hand moving and going down. I gasped as she grabbedSADE After the flashbacks ended for a bit, I sat alone at my station again, my shoulders hunched, my fingers resting on the cold glass where all my bottles stood. I was still searching for the scent, the one scent that could explain my life without my saying a word. The smell that would tell Madam Valee the pain I passed throughout my life simply by inhaling. The lab was quiet in that way that made my thoughts louder, the low hum of machines, the faint clink of glass, the smell of alcohol and oils layered over each other until the air felt heavy, and I stayed there long after most people left, because if I left I knew my past would catch up with me again and I didn’t want to think. Not about Kross, not about Greece, not about Amelia and our stories… I just wanted to create the scent without bringing the past into the present. I picked up another bottle and pressed it to my nose, breathing in slowly even though my chest already felt tight.The scent burned, and my lungs reacted bef
SADE I opened my eyes, and a big pair of green eyes stared into me.“You’re awake,” the girl said, pulling me back and helping me sit up. I groaned softly as I held my head, and she winced like she was the one feeling the pain. “Sorry. Those men must have hit you pretty hard.”“Those men?” I asked, my eyes going wide as the event started coming back to me. “Th-the men that followed me?”She nodded. “Yes, those men. They take–”“Who are you?” I asked, cutting her off, my head aching, my throat too dry. “I’m Amelia,” she answered with a small smile. “Amelia…” I repeated. She had such a beautiful name, new to me, just like her eyes. They were big, green, and beautiful. In my village, you only see dark eye colors, not colors that pop like hers. She was stunning, with honest eyes. And they told her story. A story of someone who has seen pain and been through hell. “I need to go back home,” I told her, looking around the small, strange room. “Where’s the closest bus stop to my village
SADEI sat at my station and listened as Madam Valee spoke.“Two weeks. You’ll be given two weeks to prepare for this exam. You’re to create a scent. Something that tells the story of your life. You might try to lie.” She paused and looked around. “But I’ll definitely find out if you do. Your scent will tell me.”When she left, my thoughts wandered. I thought of how to begin. My life wasn’t something worth telling. It wasn't something people were supposed to know. My life wasn’t something people would love to inhale. I didn’t know people needed pain for a scent. “What are you going to do…?” Lina asked, nudging my shoulder. “I don’t know,” I sighed, rubbing my shoulder. “I guess I’ll tell my story whichever way. If it isn’t sweet enough, then I can’t help it.”“You’ll do great,” she said. “I know you will.”Everyone left for their stations, and I sat there thinking, calculating, and trying to come up with something. I picked up a lavender scent, but then I threw it back down. Too s
SADEWhen they announced the final exam, my hands went cold, not the kind of cold you shake off. The kind that settles deep and stays.Madame Valée stood at the front of the lab, straight-backed as always, eyes moving over us like she could already see who would fail and who would succeed. The room smelled like nerves and alcohol wipes; nobody was speaking. It felt like we were holding our breath. “This is your last exam,” she said. “There will be no retakes. No mercy grading.” Someone behind me let out a slow breath. “You will create a scent that explains your life. Not a moment. Not a feeling. Your life. How it began. How it changed. How it broke. And how you think it's going to end.” My pen slipped from my fingers and clattered onto the table.My life?MY life?! My throat tightened.Around me, chairs shifted. People whispered.“That’s insane.” “How do you even bottle that?” “She’s cruel.”I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t.Because my life wasn’t something you summarized neatly
KROSS I didn’t slam the file shut.I couldn’t.I sat there with it open on the desk, pages spread, as if they weighed more than paper. The lamp above me hummed softly, the room smelled like dust, bleach, and that sharp hospital-clean scent that never really leaves records, no matter how old they are. Smell I've become used to. The medical records were clear. Crystal clear. No mystery. Just straight to the point, no sugarcoating. This was the kind of honesty I liked, but right now it scared me. Long-term damage caused by stress. Malnutrition. Untreated infections.I read it again.And again.My jaw tightened until it hurt.“So this is it,” I muttered to no one, my words echoing in the heavy room. This was the truth Sade didn’t know. The truth I had been chasing across countries, hospitals, dead ends, and silence. The truth that had followed me into my sleep and crawled into my chest every time I looked at her.Her mother didn’t just disappear. She didn’t just “get sick”; She was
SADEI didn’t sleep after Kross left.I tried. I lay there staring at the ceiling, listening to the silence he left behind. The house felt wrong without his weight, without his presence filling the rooms. Everything felt hollow, like air after something important had been pulled out.He didn’t explain.That was the part that hurt the most.Kross had always been blunt with me. Painfully honest. Even when the truth was ugly or heavy, he never softened it. He never hid. That was one of the reasons I trusted him. That was one of the reasons I gave him everything.But this time, he just… left.“I’ll be back soon,” he said.Soon.No reason. No explanation. No truth.I sat up in bed and wrapped my arms around myself. My chest felt tight, like something was squeezing it from the inside.I had begged him to stay.I hated myself for that part.“Please,” I had said, my voice small even to my own ears. “Just tell me why.”He looked at me like he was breaking from the inside.“I can’t,” he said.







