The climb out of the poisoned tower was less a romantic ascent and more a desperate, oxygen-starved scramble. Adrian's power hauled Lila upward, the wire linking their waists pulling her tight against his armored form. The cold wind screamed around them, mixed with the strange, rhythmic thrumming of powerful magical engines approaching.
Lila clung to the rope ladder, focusing entirely on putting one foot in front of the other, her muscles screaming in protest. Her mind, overloaded with terror, magic, kissing, and betrayal, had mercifully shut down. She was a robot executing a single program: CLIMB. SURVIVE. DO NOT FALL.
They reached the summit ridge just as a massive, black, wingless craft—Adrian's private Elemental Extraction Skiff—swooped low. It was powered by brilliant blue-white runes glowing beneath its polished hull. The sudden magical draft was powerful enough to knock Lila senseless, but Adrian shielded her completely, his body absorbing the force.
They were hauled into the cabin, which was immediately sealed and began its swift, steep ascent away from the Black River Falls, propelled by humming magical force.
Inside, the cabin was silent, sterile, and warm. Adrian's men—four Beta security operatives—were already tending to his toxic armor with specialized cleaning gear. Adrian, however, ignored them. He stood over Lila, who collapsed onto a bench, gasping for air.
His silver eyes were intensely fixed on her, assessing her physical state, but the fierce turbulence in their depths still hinted at the powerful emotions he'd been fighting.
Lila spent the first minute simply inhaling the warm, stable air, watching the poisonous Black River Falls shrink beneath them. The immediate danger was gone.
The chaos was relaxing.
As her mind cleared, Lila's internal processing systems finally caught up to the single, most critical piece of data from the tower.
The Sentinel Stone was safe. The assassin was gone. Chloe was secured. BUT...
Wait a minute.
He kissed me.
Lila's eyes snapped up to Adrian, who was still standing over her, looking down with that infuriating, intense, analytical gaze.
What the hell? The shock was immediate and total. Why didn't I react?
She looked at her hands, which had been so busy neutralizing pheromones, using magic, and finding wire, that they had completely forgotten their most fundamental duty, self-defense.
He kissed you! Without asking! And you didn't even push him! Don't be like those stupid heroines where they let the man off because he's 'intense' or 'saved them' or 'has sad eyes'! No! That is taking advantage! You need to slap whoever takes advantage of you, even if he will kill me afterward! My dignity is not negotiable!
The fury, delayed by necessity, hit her with the force of a tidal wave. She wasn't an Asset. She was a human being with boundaries.
Lila shot up from the bench so quickly she nearly head-butted Adrian's armored chest. Her eyes were blazing with cold, righteous anger.
She did not stop to think about the consequences. She simply raised her hand and delivered a sharp, loud slap directly across Adrian Wolfhart's cheek.
The sound echoed sharply in the sterile silence of the helicopter cabin. The four Beta guards froze instantly, their mouths hanging open, dropping their cleaning tools.
Adrian didn't move. He stood, completely still, the red color flaring back into his eyes for one astonished, blinding second before receding into a look of absolute, slack-jawed dumfounded surprise.
Lila, channeling every bit of indignation and cultural norm from her past life, leaned forward and launched into the most furious lecture he had ever received.
"I am not a piece of data to be confirmed!" Lila hissed, jabbing a furious finger into his chest plate. "What do you think you were doing back there? Just because I needed your brute force to survive does NOT give you the right to take advantage of me! You used a high-stress, high-danger situation to conduct a 'necessary confirmation' WITHOUT MY CONSENT!"
Lila took a breath, transforming fully into a furious, old-school etiquette instructor.
"You need to understand, Alpha, that women do not exist for your convenience or your 'data exploration'!" she yelled, her voice shaking with adrenaline. "You do not kiss a person without their express, verbal permission! Do you think this is how you get a girlfriend? Or a wife or, or a mate? Because let me tell you, Alpha Wolfhart, if you continue to treat women like objects, you will end up alone! Completely and utterly alone with your data and your scary red eyes! ASK FOR PERMISSION! Apologize!"
The silence from the four Betas was so profound Lila could practically hear their careers ending.
Adrian slowly lifted one hand to his stinging cheek. The astonishment was still visible in his now-silver eyes. He had faced assassins, political rivals, and elemental chaos, but this—this sheer, non-magical, righteous fury—had completely blindsided him.
A slow, utterly genuine look of amusement spread across Adrian's face. The scientific gears were turning again, but this time, they weren't crunching data, they were trying to understand a fascinating, unexpected variable.
"I..." Adrian began, shaking his head slightly, a small, dark laugh escaping his lips. "I apologize, Assistant Blackwood."
He took a step back, executed a slow, mocking bow, and his eyes glinted with mischief. "I profoundly regret that my moment of 'necessary confirmation' lacked the required verbal consent, and I promise to review the social protocols necessary for obtaining a future consort. My apologies. Was that sufficient?"
Lila stared at him, her chest heaving. He had apologized. But his eyes...
Was he really apologetic, or is it just my brain which doesn't think so?
His apology was tainted by that dark, playful amusement—a reaction that acknowledged her point while simultaneously confirming her new status as the most intriguing puzzle he had ever encountered. He was no longer just seeing her as an Asset; he was seeing her as a complex, volatile, and deeply fascinating person who dared to slap a True Blood Alpha and live.
"That," Lila huffed, stepping back and collapsing onto the bench, her adrenaline crashing, "will be logged. Now, where are we going?"
Adrian simply straightened up, his silver eyes fixed on her with a new, intensely focused appreciation—a gaze that was far warmer, and far more dangerous, than the cold analysis he usually reserved for her.
"We are going back to the Academy, Assistant," Adrian said, the amusement lingering in his voice. "But first, we have a very important stop to make. I need to collect your friend, Elara. And then, we are going to burn some Shadow Council assets."