Chapter 37: The Edge of Trust
The rain had started again.
Soft at first—like a whisper across the windowpane—but it grew steadily, until it sounded like the sky itself was unraveling. Aria sat on the cold floor, her back to the wall, knees drawn up to her chest. She watched the shadows shift and stretch under the low light of the desk lamp, her thoughts a hundred miles from the room she sat in.
It had been two nights since Selene told her the truth.
That she was the fracture and the healing. The beginning and the end. That something ancient lived beneath her skin now, waiting for the world to force its awakening.
But Aria wasn't ready. Not to become what the world wanted. Not to be seen as something sacred or dangerous. She just wanted the space to breathe without someone reaching for a piece of her. The quiet of her room—small, lamplit, untouched—was the only place she felt entirely her own.
Until the knock.
It was soft, almost tentative, and yet Aria's body tensed as if she'd been struck. She didn't speak. She didn't move. But the door creaked open anyway.
Selene stepped inside, dark coat trailing behind her like smoke, hair slicked to her cheek from the storm. She didn't ask permission. She never did.
"You're not sleeping again," Selene said.
"Neither are you," Aria replied, her voice hushed, her gaze pinned to the floor.
Selene said nothing for a long time. She crossed the room slowly, each step deliberate, predatory, until she sank onto the floor across from her, folding herself with elegance and quiet calculation. The air between them thickened—taut with something unsaid, something both had been trying to ignore.
Aria tried not to stare, but Selene's shirt clung slightly from the rain, framing her collarbones and the bare sliver of skin at her throat. Her damp hair curled slightly at the ends, and when their eyes met, Aria forgot how to breathe.
"Something's wrong," Aria said quietly, trying to ground herself in anything but the heat rising to her cheeks.
Selene's lips twitched. Not a smile. Something darker.
"There's movement in the south," she said. "The Council's sent a shadow."
Aria blinked. "A shadow?"
Selene nodded. "To test you. Maybe provoke you. They want to see what you are when you're cornered."
"And what if I fail?"
"Then they'll call you a threat."
Aria's stomach sank. The storm outside mirrored the one behind her ribs, and the weight of it twisted inside her. "I never asked for this," she said, voice cracking.
Selene leaned forward, eyes glinting. "No one asks. But some are chosen anyway."
A silence bloomed between them again—but this one was heavier. There was something in Selene's posture, something restrained. Like she wasn't telling the whole truth.
Aria looked at her sharply. "You intercepted the message?"
"Yes."
"But that's not all, is it?"
Selene's expression didn't change. "I responded."
"What?" Aria's heart stuttered.
"I baited them," Selene said calmly. "I gave them a location."
Aria rose in an instant, disbelief hitting her like a slap. "You gave them here?"
Selene rose too, slow and steady. "I had to control what they saw."
"You had to?" Aria snapped. "You didn't tell me. You didn't even ask—"
"Because you hesitate," Selene cut in, stepping closer, the storm in her voice barely contained. "And hesitation will get you killed."
Aria backed away a step. "So what—this is a test now? You're testing me too?"
Selene's gaze held hers. Unflinching. "Yes."
Aria's breath caught. "You don't trust me."
"No," Selene said softly. "I don't trust anyone. Not with what you are."
The words sliced through her. Aria turned away, furious and flushed. Not just from anger. Selene's closeness, the quiet authority in her voice—it was too much. Too intoxicating. Too dangerous.
"You said I wasn't alone," Aria whispered, her voice shaking. "But now I don't even know if that was real."
She felt Selene move behind her, silent as a shadow. When she turned back around, Selene was close. Too close. Their faces were inches apart, and Selene's eyes—storm-dark, unreadable—were fixed on her like she was a puzzle to solve, or a spark about to burn.
"You're not a weapon," Selene murmured, reaching up with deliberate slowness. Her fingers brushed a strand of hair from Aria's cheek, soft enough to make her gasp. "But you are dangerous. And that's what's keeping you alive."
Aria's breath hitched, heat rushing to her skin.
"You can't just touch me like that when you say things like that," she whispered.
Selene's smirk was faint, but wicked. "Why not?"
Aria flushed. "Because it's confusing."
"And yet you're not pulling away."
Aria's entire body tensed, caught between fury and something else she didn't want to name. "Stop playing with me."
"Am I?" Selene leaned in until their lips were a breath apart. "Or am I waiting for you to stop playing with yourself?"
Aria's cheeks burned. She hated how breathless she felt. How her knees wobbled just from that look in Selene's eyes.
But she also hated how true it was. Selene wasn't just testing her power. She was testing her. Emotionally. Physically. And Aria didn't know if she wanted to pass or fail.
"I hate that you did this without telling me," Aria said, voice trembling.
"I know," Selene whispered. "But if I gave you the choice, you would've said no. And some doors don't wait for consent, Aria. Some just open. And the world rushes in."
Aria turned away before she did something stupid—like kiss her. Or cry.
"I need to think," she murmured.
Selene didn't move.
"I said I need space," Aria said again, louder this time.
This time, Selene nodded slowly. She stepped back, shadows clinging to her as if reluctant to let her go.
But before she reached the door, she glanced back. Her voice, when it came, was quiet but firm.
"You're not weak for needing space. But don't mistake silence for control. The Council won't wait. And neither will I."
The door shut behind her with a soft click.
Aria stared at it for a long time, heart pounding in her ears, every part of her still buzzing with the ghost of Selene's breath on her lips. She sank back to the floor, trembling with everything left unsaid.
There was no peace anymore. Only choices. Only shadows.
But even in the silence that followed, Aria could still feel Selene on her skin.
And she knew—next time she saw her again, something would break.
Maybe herself.
Maybe the rules.
Maybe both.