Chapter 354: The Weeknd Night 9

Kiara shook her head slowly."No. Even if it takes time, I’ll find a way to reach the High Mage without involving your father."

"He may find you before then."

"That’s highly likely."

Another stretch of quiet. The moon kept its place.

The ache under Lor’s ribs had not gone away, but it had changed shape, becoming something closer to attention than pain.

"Why won’t you kill him?" he asked.

Kiara lifted her eyes and met his directly.

"Your father is a very good witch tracker. That means he has done the work before. He has almost certainly killed witches. He is not an innocent man walking through a quiet life."

She held his gaze.

"I know that. But I did not see him on the day they burned my mother. And more than that..." Her voice lowered.

"I have already caused you a lot of pain. I don’t want to cause you more."

The words settled heavily on the roof.

Kiara’s eyes dropped again.

Lor was silent too. Watching her.

A longer pause opened. When she spoke next, her voice was quieter.

"Can I ask you something, Lor?"

"What is it?"

She raised her head.

The moonlight caught the wetness gathering along the lower edge of her blue eyes.

A small, tired smile touched her mouth at the same time, the two expressions sitting together without cancelling each other.

"If a day comes when the rage and the anger consume me completely, and I am about to harm your father... I want you to kill me. Without hesitation."

Lor’s breath stilled in his chest.

"I won’t hate you for it," Kiara continued.

The smile remained, thin and real.

"I won’t blame you. I’ll thank you instead." She swallowed once.

"I’m sorry that I’m this kind of woman. The revenge for my mother’s death has consumed me so thoroughly that I can’t step outside of it. Even though I lo.... ve... you."

"...."

Kiara’s voice stayed low after the request left her mouth.

The night air moved between them, cool and steady, lifting strands of her long black hair across her cheek. She did not brush them away.

"I’m really sorry Lor," she said again.

"For the person I am. For using you. For the marking. For all of it." Her blue eyes stayed on his face, wet at the edges but steady.

"It’s fine if you don’t believe me. I wouldn’t blame you. But I need you to know something before it’s too late."

Lor did not speak.

He simply listened, the way he had been listening since she first stepped onto the same roof.

Every time her gaze lifted to check his expression, she found him already looking back at her.

The attention was quiet and complete. It gave her room to keep going.

"I grew to like the time we spent," she said. "The talking. The walks. The eating. Being able to be honest without calculating every word. I hated how things became after. I hated the distance and the way you looked at me when you finally understood. I just... wanted you to know that part was real. Even if the rest was tangled in what I needed from you."

She fell silent for a stretch. The breeze continued. Somewhere below, a night bird called once and went quiet.

"Say something," Kiara said after a while. Her voice had gone smaller. "I won’t mind even if you tell me I’m still lying and trying to trick you. Just say something."

Lor opened his mouth.

"Kiara."

She looked at him at once.

Tears were already gathering more thickly along her lower lashes.

"I will help you."

The words landed in the open air between them and stayed there.

Kiara stared.

For a moment she seemed unable to find a response. When she did, it came out fast and almost sharp with refusal.

"No. Don’t, Lor. I’m fine. I don’t need your help. I’ll take care of it on my own. You’ve already done more than enough for me. Don’t get your hands dirty for me again." She shook her head, long black hair moving across her shoulders.

"That’s your father. I don’t want to cause problems between you and him. I don’t want to put cracks in your family. I’ll handle the High Mage myself."

"I’ll take care of it," Lor said. His voice remained even.

"My family won’t be in any trouble."

Kiara’s eyes widened.

"How? Your father guards the High Mage. Attacking the High Mage means facing your father too."

A small smile touched Lor’s mouth. It was not the teasing one he wore with other people. It was quieter.

"You will attack the High Mage," he said. "Not my father. Tell me three hours before you are about to make a move on the high mage. I’ll make sure my father isn’t there when you do it."

Kiara’s lips parted.

"What? You would really do that?"

Lor nodded once. The small smile remained.

Something bright and disbelieving broke across her tired face.

Joy, raw and sudden, pushed through the exhaustion and the fear she had been carrying for days.

She stepped forward without hesitation and wrapped her arms around him.

The hug was strong.

Kiara was taller, and the force of her relief lifted him off the tiles before she seemed to realize what she was doing.

She turned once under the moonlight, a small, almost childish circle of movement, her full chest pressed firmly against him.

Lor felt the soft, heavy shape of her breasts through the dark fabric of her top, the warmth of her body, the way her arms locked around his back as if she needed the contact to prove the words had been real.

He smiled too.

For a short stretch of time the roof held nothing heavier than that shared, startled happiness.

The breeze moved around them.

The moon kept its place overhead.

Kiara set him back down carefully.

Her hands lingered at his shoulders for a second longer than necessary.

When she looked at him again the joy was still there, but a quieter question had risen behind it.

"But why Lor?" she asked. "Why do you want to help me after everything I have done to you? Aren’t you angry?"