The moment I turned back toward Riven, the world stopped.
Kael's roar of betrayal shook the fortress. Jax's grip on my hips turned punishing. Lucian's smirk dripped with venomous triumph. But Riven—Riven just stared at me with those glacial eyes, his chest rising and falling too fast, the shattered remains of the antidote glittering like tears on the floor between us.
"Why?" The word left his lips like a bullet.
I didn't have an answer. Not one that made sense.
So I kissed him.
Riven didn't sleep.
I learned this curled in his bed, my back pressed to his chest, his arms locked around me like living chains. Every time I stirred, his fingers flexed against my stomach. Every sigh I made, his breath hitched.
"You're watching me again," I murmured into the dark.
His lips brushed the nape of my neck. "I'm making sure you don't disappear."
The raw honesty in his voice sent shivers down my spine.
Morning revealed a different Riven.
