The door closed behind him.
And the sound lingered longer than it should have.
Lyra didn’t turn immediately.
Because she already felt it.
Him.
Not just his presence
but the way it shifted the air around her.
It was stronger now.
Clearer.
Like something between them had finally stopped hiding.
Her breath slowed without her meaning it to.
But her body
her body was doing something else entirely.
Reacting.
She turned.
Kael stood there, just inside the room.
Watching her.
Not distant.
Not guarded.
Focused in a way that made her chest tighten.
“You said you made a decision,” she said.
Her voice sounded steady.
But she could feel it
the slight tremor beneath it.
Because every time he looked at her like that
something inside her shifted.
“I did.”
He started walking towar
