**KORVUS'S POV**
I walked back to my study, my steps slow, deliberate. A faint smirk played at the corner of my lips, a reaction I hadn’t even realized had formed. I licked the inside of my cheek, still tasting the remnants of the fire Kelilah had attempted to set in my throat. The spice lingered, but it wasn’t unpleasant—it was amusing.
She had tried to best me, to get under my skin with something so trivial. And yet, here I was, sitting in my chair, thinking only of her.
Kelilah.
The way she had stared at me earlier, waiting, hoping for a reaction. How her confidence had faltered when I kept eating, completely unbothered. That moment of hesitation, the flicker of disbelief in her eyes, had been delicious. I chuckled under my breath, shaking my head as I leaned back in my chair.
This
