CHAPTER 59: CHAPTER 59: TOO HONEST

Victor didn’t look away. He turned fully now, the movement unhurried, the quiet weight of his presence settling over the room like a second gravity.

His expression remained composed, but the faint flex of his jaw and the subtle ripple of ether that stirred and dimmed along the hem of his coat betrayed the careful calculation behind his silence.

"It depends," Victor said at last, voice low.

Elias frowned. "Depends? Shouldn’t it be a yes or no answer?"

Victor took a slow step closer, crimson eyes steady, unwavering. "No," he murmured. "It should be a question of trust. Do you trust me?"

Elias’s throat tightened. He held Victor’s gaze, feeling the weight of the question settle like a stone in his chest.

"I believe I can trust you," Elias said finally, each word slow, measured, "and that I can give you a chance. But no... I can’t trust you fully. Not yet. Not even after you saved me twice."

Victor’s lips curved, not into a smile exactly, but something darker, an acknowledgment rather than an offense. He took another step forward, his presence close enough now that Elias could feel the faint hum of ether rolling off him, warm and steady like a shield.

"That’s fair," Victor said softly. "We barely know each other."

His voice dropped, threaded with something unspoken, something that made the air between them feel thinner. His eyes narrowed slightly, studying Elias as if he could see every guarded thought flicker across his mind.

"Who knows," Victor murmured, a faint, sharp smile tugging at his mouth, "maybe I just want to use you... like Matteo."

Elias’s brow arched, his pulse ticking faster despite himself. "You’re remarkably honest for someone trying to make a point," he said dryly, his tone a thin veil over the twist in his chest.

Victor’s smile deepened, quiet amusement softening the dangerous edge in his words. "Honesty’s cheaper than lies, Elias. And far more unsettling, don’t you think?"

Elias met his gaze, feeling that same strange weight press down, the awareness that Victor’s words could be a jest... or a confession wrapped in irony.

"And do you?" Elias asked after a beat, his voice low. "Want to use me?"

Victor didn’t answer right away. He stepped closer instead, until the faint warmth of his presence washed over Elias again, the subtle hum of his ether brushing against Elias’s senses like the lightest static.

"I want you," Victor murmured, "to become my soulmate."

Elias closed his eyes briefly, exhaling through his nose in something that sounded more like restraint than surprise.

"You’ve said that before," he replied, voice soft but threaded with quiet frustration. "More than once."

Victor’s brows lifted slightly, though he didn’t back away.

Elias opened his eyes, meeting Victor’s steady gaze with his own. "You can’t keep throwing that at me like it’s inevitable," he said, tone even, though there was a tired edge to it. "You don’t get to say soulmate and expect me to just, what?, agree because you asked enough times?"

Victor tilted his head slightly, his crimson eyes unreadable, but silent.

"You want that?" Elias continued, his voice gentler now, though the frustration still hummed beneath it. "Then answer my question, and start with a date before I change my mind."

Victor’s chuckle was low, a quiet rumble through his chest that softened some of the weight in the room. "Ruo is alive," he said evenly, eyes holding Elias’s with calm certainty. "She’s under my protection. She can’t reach out without putting herself in danger."

Some of the tightness in Elias’s shoulders eased, though his jaw was still set, as if part of him wanted to doubt, wanted to demand more.

Victor took a single step back, his crimson gaze sweeping over Elias with something softer than his earlier fury. "Now," he murmured, a wry edge to his voice, "get some sleep. You’ll need your strength... for those dates you just demanded."

The faintest smile touched Elias’s lips despite himself, his eyes narrowing in quiet exasperation. "I’ll hold you to that," he said, stepping back toward the bed.

Victor lingered in the doorway for a heartbeat longer, his presence filling the room like a low, steady hum of power and something else Elias couldn’t name. Then he nodded once, almost to himself, and slipped out, the door closing behind him with a soft, decisive click, leaving Elias alone with the quiet pulse of his own thoughts and the faint, unshakable awareness of what was coming next.

—

Elias woke slowly, the world sliding back into focus in fragments.

The first thing he noticed was his own body, heavy with sleep, muscles languid, the faint ache in his shoulders a reminder of how tightly he’d held himself together last night. The second thing was the taste in his mouth, dry and metallic, like he’d bitten down on iron in a dream. He swallowed, grimaced, and pushed himself upright against the pillows, blinking at the soft morning light filtering through the curtains.

For a moment, the room was still, warm with muted sunlight glinting off dark wood and polished stone. And then he heard it, a steady, rhythmic sound from beyond the half‑closed door at the end of the suite.

The shower.

Water running in a low rush, steam hissing faintly against tile.

Elias scrubbed a hand over his face, trying to chase the grogginess from his eyes. His tongue felt thick, his throat raw with thirst. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, bare feet finding the cool floor. The air carried a faint curl of cedar and smoke, Victor’s scent lingering in the sheets and on the coat still draped over the armchair.

His eyes flicked toward the sound again, brows drawing together. The steady rush of water, the occasional muted thud as something shifted in the shower stall.

Victor.

Elias exhaled, slow and shaky, running his thumb along the sharp edge of his jaw. ’Of course he’d be here. Of course he wouldn’t leave me unguarded.’

He sat there for another moment, caught between the weight of last night and the strangeness of this morning, listening to the shower and trying to decide if he felt safer, or more exposed, than he’d ever been.