Lili sat in the back seat, the weight of a duffel bag beside her Her head leaned against the cool window, eyes watching the city blur by, but her thoughts were far behind them… back in Rafael’s office, back in the medical wing… back with him.
Colin’s hands gripped the steering wheel, Astonia sat beside him, flipping occasionally through the radio — neither of them speaking.
Until Lili broke the silence. “What did you say to Notori?”
Colin’s jaw tightened slightly, just enough for Lili to notice in the rearview mirror. Astonia sighed, shifting in her seat.
Colin cleared his throat. “I told him that if he wanted to stay around you, he had to prove he understood what that meant.”
Lili frowned. “And what does it mean, exactly? To you?”
Colin hesitated. “That he doesn’t just get to be there for the easy parts. That if things get worse again, he can’t run.”
Astonia looked over at her husband surprised. “Your father wants to be sure Notori isn’t just caught up in the heat of it all,” she added. “You’re our daughter, Lili. We’ve already almost lost you a few times… we’re not giving you away without questions.”
Lili looked down at her hands, fingers tightening slightly in her lap. “I’m not some fragile thing that’ll break because of a boy.”
“No,” Colin said, his voice quieter now. “You’re not.”
Lili leaned back into the seat again. Her eyes flicked toward the window followed by the small, worn smile at the corners of her mouth. “…He already knows that,” she murmured.
Her eyes met her father’s in the rearview mirror. “At least if you don’t succeed in chasing him away.”
Colin’s jaw clicked slightly. Astonia placed a hand over his.
“I’m not trying to chase him away,” Colin muttered at last, though the stubborn set of his brow betrayed how he wished, just for a moment, she’d stayed that little girl he could still protect.
“But if he’s going to walk beside you, Lili,” he added, “he needs to understand what that means. The fire inside you might flicker, but when it burns, it burns. And I’m not going to pretend I’m not terrified of anyone getting caught in that blaze.”
Lili tilted her head. “Then maybe you should stop trying to put it out.”
Astonia let out a quiet laugh. “She’s got your fire,” she whispered, her voice caught somewhere between pride and worry.
Colin didn’t respond, but the faintest tug at the corner of his lips said enough.
Lili turned back to the window, watching the sky begin to dim beyond the city edge. Her fingers played with the zipper of her jacket absently. “…Notori isn’t afraid of the fire,” she said at last. “He’s the only one who never was.”
Lili’s phone buzzed softly against her thigh, breaking the stretch of silence that had settled over the hum of the road. She blinked, glanced down and there it was. Notori’s name glowing on the screen.
She opened the message:
Notori:
“Your father was truly terrifying.”
Notori:
“He even threatened to hunt me down if I ever broke your heart.
Notori:
“Part of me believes he’d actually manage to do it.
Notori:
“Relentless man.”
A small breath of laughter escaped her lips.
Another buzz. Another message:
Notori:
“Sorry for not walking you out. Mike called me back.”
Notori:
“That smug bastard. I was planning to kiss you.”
The corners of Lili’s mouth twitched upward, and her fingers lingered over the screen. She bit the inside of her cheek, trying and failing to hide her smile as she turned slightly to look out the window.
Astonia peeked over her shoulder from the front seat, catching the expression with a knowing glance. “Notori?” she asked softly.
Lili just nodded.
Then she typed back, hesitating just before sending:
Lili:
“He really said that?”
Lili:
“As for the kiss…”
She paused, grinning now.
Lili:
“I expect interest.”
***
Three of them stepped into the quiet apartment. No chatter of soldiers, no distant alarms, no echo of boots down sterile hallways. She hadn’t felt this silence in months. Lili stopped just past the threshold, her breath caught in her throat. Her fingers twitched at her sides.
A ripple of shadow slithered up her spine, her eyes flickered red without warning. She pivoted slightly, shoulders tightening, gaze slicing through the corners of the room.
She was searching for movement, for danger, for the enemy she half-expected to leap from behind the couch or bleed out of the walls. But there was nothing. Just her parents, frozen in the doorway behind her, and the soft creak of Colin setting down the keys on the hallway table.
Her breath returned in a slow, sharp inhale, and with trembling effort Lili called the shadows back into herself. “I…” she began, voice barely the shape of a word, but nothing followed.
Astonia stepped forward and placed a grounding hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “It’s alright,” she murmured. “You’re safe here. No one’s going to hurt you.”
Lili’s shoulders dropped a little. “It’s not about that,” she said, and her voice cracked slightly. “It’s just… I already forgot what quiet means.”
A breath of silence stretched before she giggled and shook her head. “Back at the base, it’s always footsteps, voices, warnings, alarms…” she paused, glancing out the window at the soft evening curling through the curtains than back at her mother. “This place is calm. That terrifies me more than the war ever did.”
Colin didn’t speak, but he placed her suitcase gently by the wall.
Lili found sleep eventually. Then a soft knock from the window reached her ear
Her breath caught. A smile, small and secret, bloomed across her lips before she even turned her head. She pushed the covers away and crept across the room, barefoot and quiet, making sure the room door was firmly closed behind her. A flick of her wrist undid the latch, and the window groaned open.
And there he was. Before she could speak, Notori climbed inside and his arms were around her before she could breathe.His hand slid to the back of her neck, gentle and breath tickled her ear before his words did. “I’m here,” he whispered, “to return the debt.” He kissed her.
Lili’s fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer with a sigh that trembled from her ribs.
They had fallen asleep tangled in a quiet. For the first time in weeks Lili hadn’t dreamt of fire or blood or the voice. Just the slow rhythm of Notori’s heartbeat, the warmth of an arm slung over her waist. But dawn came too early, as it always did.
She stirred only at the sounds of movement: clothing rustling, the faint shift of weight off the mattress. Her lashes fluttered open to catch the blur of Notori pulling on his shirt.
“Why so early?” she murmured, her voice still heavy with sleep.
He turned to her, the corner of his mouth twitching with guilt and affection. He crossed the room in two soft steps, bent down and kissed her slow. “Sorry,” he whispered against her mouth. “To be honest… I was on night duty. Guard rotation.”
Lili blinked, the fog of sleep clearing in an instant. “Wait,” she whispered, “you left your post?”
He gave a crooked smirk and tipped his head toward the hallway. That’s when it hit her where they were.
Her whole body tensed. “Notori,” she hissed, a flush rising to her cheeks, half from panic, half from indignation.
But he leaned in again before she could scold him further, stealing another kiss. “It was worth it,” he murmured with a grin.
Then, with one last glance he turned toward the window, stepped onto the ledge, and vanished into the pre-dawn sky.
Lili dropped back onto the bed with a dramatic sigh, throwing a pillow over her face for a moment before peeling it away. “Stupid, impossible idiot,” she muttered, but the smile tugging at her lips betrayed her.
She slipped out of bed, pulling on a nightshirt, gathered a change of clothes, and padded quietly to the bathroom. The moment the shower hissed to life and steam curled around her, she let the warmth wash over her. The kiss still lingered on her lips, and beneath the pounding water, she allowed herself a moment of laughter.
***
Lili sat curled into the corner of the kitchen chair, a half-full coffee cup warming her palms. Morning sunlight slanted in through the blinds, casting golden bars across the table, striping her face in soft shadows.
She was still thinking of him: of the reckless way Notori had slipped through the window, like a flame refusing to be extinguished; of the warmth of his body pressed against hers; of the idiocy of risking punishment just to see her. And, most of all, of the gamble they’d both taken. Her parents were just a few rooms away. If they had woken and walked in… She bit the inside of her cheek, both mortified and amused.
The hush of her reverie broke only when footsteps crept into the kitchen. Colin entered first, grumbling under his breath about some broadcast nonsense, his brow already furrowed by habit. Astonia followed with the quiet click of her slippers barely louder than amused on her face.
Lili didn’t stir to their approach.
“Lili?” Astonia called gently.
Colin frowned and waved a hand in front of her face. “Earth to Lili. Come in, pilot.”
Lili blinked, slow and dreamlike, her spine straightening just enough to show she’d returned from wherever her thoughts had taken her. “Oh…sorry,” she mumbled, shifting in her seat. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
Astonia gave a knowing little smile, her arms crossing as she leaned against the counter. “You were miles away, sweetheart.”
Colin didn’t budge. He crossed his arms. “Should we be worried?” he asked, gaze sharp but not cruel.
Lili stared into her mug, watching the rim of steamless liquid glint in the morning light. Her fingers curled around the porcelain a little tighter, and her mouth curved. “Nah,” she said. “I’m okay. No voices again. Don’t worry.” Then she added, with a little shrug and averted gaze, “Just… I guess I woke up too early.”
Astonia’s glance slid toward Colin, and Colin’s gaze narrowed, catching something frayed at the edges of his daughter’s voice.
“So,” Colin said, eyeing her over a forkful of eggs as they sat around the small breakfast table, “you slept with the window open?”
Lili didn’t look up. “Why not? It’s not cold outside.”
Colin’s eyebrow rose, but he said nothing more. Astonia, either sensing the tension or ignoring it deliberately, reached for the remote and turned the television screen on. Static hummed briefly, then cleared to a news anchor’s voice already in mid-report.
Lili wasn’t paying attention—until the words “Stronghold Enterprises” hit the air. Her head snapped toward the screen so fast her hair swung across her shoulders.
“…Torin Del Vez, CEO of Stronghold Enterprises and prominent philanthropist, was found dead late last night under undisclosed circumstances. Authorities are refusing to release further information at this time…”
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