Chapter 2
685 Words
The cold air stung Freya’s skin.
For several seconds, she couldn’t move.
The ruined observatory lay scattered across the cliff like the remains of a forgotten dream. Her fingers tightened against the rough stone beneath her.
No.
That wasn’t possible.
Only moments ago, towering pillars had surrounded her. Crystal fragments had hung from the ceiling. Ancient symbols had burned across the walls.
Now there was nothing.
Only silence.
Slowly, she lifted her gaze.
Declan stood a short distance away, his back turned toward her.
The wind pulled at his dark coat.
He hadn’t moved.
He was staring at the stars.
Almost as if he were searching for answers among them.
“Declan.”
He didn’t respond.
She pushed herself to her feet, brushing dirt from her clothes.
“Did you hear me?”
Nothing.
Annoyance quickly replaced her confusion.
“Are you always this rude?”
His shoulders stiffened.
For a brief moment, she thought she saw the corner of his mouth twitch.
“Usually.”
Her eyes narrowed.
At least he was listening.
She took a few steps toward him.
“What happened in there?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s a lie.”
He finally turned.
Moonlight illuminated his face.
And for the first time, she saw something that hadn’t been there before.
Uncertainty.
It disappeared so quickly that she almost convinced herself she’d imagined it.
“You should go home.”
“There it is again.”
“What?”
“That.”
She pointed at him.
“That mysterious voice. Those short answers. The constant ‘you should leave’ and ‘go home.’”
His expression remained unreadable.
“You talk too much.”
A laugh escaped before she could stop it.
“I talk too much?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve spoken less than twenty words since we met.”
“Nineteen.”
Her eyebrows rose.
“You’re counting?”
“No.”
“You definitely counted.”
He turned away.
And for reasons she couldn’t explain, she smiled.
He was impossible.
Cold.
Arrogant.
Strange.
And yet…
Curiosity burned inside her.
Who was he?
The question refused to leave her mind.
The same question she’d been asking since she first heard his footsteps inside the observatory.
A sudden wave of uneasiness washed over her.
Her smile faded.
Fear.
Sharp.
Unexpected.
Her heartbeat accelerated.
She stopped walking.
The feeling wasn’t hers.
She knew it.
And somehow, she knew exactly where it had come from.
Declan.
His shoulders had become rigid.
His eyes were fixed on the darkness beyond the cliffs.
He looked completely calm.
But she could feel it.
Fear.
Not the kind that made someone run.
The kind that made someone remember.
“Declan?”
His jaw tightened.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Something’s wrong.”
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
His gaze snapped toward her.
“No, I’m not.”
But she wasn’t looking at his face.
She was looking at his hands.
His fingers had curled into fists.
He was hiding something.
And he knew she had noticed.
Then something unexpected happened.
His eyes settled on her.
Not for a second.
Not in passing.
He was studying her.
Carefully.
Almost cautiously.
As though he were trying to solve a puzzle.
The silence stretched between them.
And then he asked the last question she expected.
“Where did you find that journal?”
Her hand instinctively moved toward the satchel hanging from her shoulder.
“The journal?”
His eyes didn’t leave hers.
“Yes.”
She hesitated.
Why did he care?
And more importantly…
How did he know about it?
“You recognized it.”
It wasn’t a question.
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he took a step toward her.
Then another.
Her breath caught.
His face was impossible to read.
But his eyes…
His eyes had changed.
For the first time since she’d met him, they weren’t cold.
They were curious.
And that frightened her more than anything.
Because if a man like Declan was curious about her…
Then she’d just become part of a story she didn’t yet understand.
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