Page 78 of Iron Roses

He’s out the door before the echo finishes.

Lorenzo lingers behind him, mouth quirking.

He disappears too. Amara steps forward.

She circles the table, her heels soft against the tiles. She stops in front of me and tilts her head.

“You don’t have to speak,” she says. “I’m good at listening.”

She takes a step closer. Fingers graze the edge of my shirt sleeve.

“You don’t even have to look at me,” she murmurs. “I don’t need words.”

Her hand skims my chest.

I stop it. She doesn’t recoil.

Instead, she slides forward again—closer this time—like it’s a dance and I haven’t quite learned the steps. She places a knee on the edge of the chair beside mine.

I jerk up, one hand on her hip—guiding, not bruising. The other on her wrist.

I move her. To the door. The scrape of footsteps come behind us. A soft cough. A body too tired to mask its own presence.

I turn. Elaria.

Still feverish. Still barefoot. She stops at the threshold, mouth parted.

Amara turns too. Smiles faintly. Then—

She kisses me. Like she’s planting a flag.

I don’t kiss back. I grab her wrist.

This time, it’s less gentle. I shove the door open behind her and push her through.

Her heels scrape against the stone.

The door slams shut and I walk over to Elaria, worried.

She takes one step back. Just enough to draw a line.

“I heard him.” Her voice is soft. No edge. “Maybe he’s right.”

It doesn’t sound like a confession. It sounds like surrender.

“You shouldn’t be doing this with a fugitive.”

The word twists in her mouth. Fugitive. Like she’s trying it out. Seeing how it tastes when applied to herself.

“I can’t keep hiding like this,” she continues. Her voice is steady, but her fingers aren’t—she keeps flexing them. Opening and closing her hands like she can’t get the blood to move right.

Her eyes flick toward the door behind me.

“Can I talk to Allegra?”

Her eyes meet mine again. She’s trying to sound clinical. Like its logistics. But her voice is fraying at the edges.

I move toward her again. This time, I reach for her hands.

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