Kael didn't say anything to announce he was there.
He didn't have to.
The change in the air was enough.
Dorian felt it first.
Of course he did.
His body froze up, not because he was surprised or unsure, but because he was adjusting to something new. The talk he'd been having with Lila didn't fall apart.
It just changed.
Because now it wasn't private anymore.
He couldn't control it.
Someone was watching.
Dorian didn't turn right away.
He did that on purpose.
It was his choice.
He finished the moment he had started.
"I'm not asking you to go back to what it was," he said quietly.
Lila's eyes stayed on him.
"Then what are you asking?" she replied.
There was a pause.
It lasted a bit too long.
"Something different," he said.
That answer—
It wasn't wrong.
But it wasn't enou
