"Are we sleeping in your room again?" I ask Killian once the circulus leaves for their respective houses.

He quirks an eyebrow. "Would you throw a fit if I said yes?"

I scowl. "I don't throw fits."

"You're doing it right now," he says, not bothering to hide his laughter.

I'm about to scowl again when he suddenly pulls me into his arms— then into the in between— and we land in his bed, with me laying on top of him.

"Killian, stop doing that!" I groan, and try rolling off of him, but his arms secure around me tightly.

"Stop pulling you into portals or stop taking you to bed?" he asks suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows.

"And stop making it sound sexual when all we do is sleep." I glare at him, but he's undeterred.

"How many times do I have to tell you that it is sexual, darling?"

"It is not!"

"But it could be," he says, flashing a wicked grin.

I roll my eyes. "Are you done flirting with me so can I go shower?"

"How about I flirt with you in the shower?"

I roll my eyes again at his incessant jokes and scramble off his bed. I'm walking to the door to go to my own room when Killian appears in front of me, blocking the exit.

"Aren't you going to go shower?" Killian asks, amusement lighting up his eyes.

"You're in my way."

"I'm not stopping you."

I try getting around him, but he just moves in front of me.

Sighing, I ask, "Killian, is this your annoying way of saying you want me to use your shower?"

"Darling, that is an excellent idea," he says, grinning.

I sigh again, and hold out my hand. "Clothes?"

He disappears, and reappears a few moments later, placing the clothes in my hand.

He's still grinning even wider now.

I shake my head as I go into the bathroom, but slowly, a smile spreads across my face once I close the door behind me.

When I go back into Killian's room, he's laying on his bed, traces of amusement still on his face.

"You showered," I note when I crawl into bed next to him. I pause, and narrow my eyes. "You smell like me."

"It was a shower-swap kind of night," he says, laughing, and he pulls me into his chest, making me yelp in surprise.

"You're in a much better mood now than you were this morning," I remark bemusedly.

Killian's smile falters slightly, before he recovers. "What can I say, you talk very loudly in your sleep. You have such lewd dreams, darling, they make even me blush."

I scowl, but my cheeks redden. Killian pinches one of them, and chuckles. I smack his hand away.

"You're lucky I like it rough," Killian reminds me.

"You've mentioned," I scoff.

Killian laughs, twirling a piece of my hair. "Since when do you listen to me?"

I pause. Since when do I listen to him? Why have I listened to him tonight? I didn't even fight him on sleeping in his bed, using his shower, or even protest when he gave me another one of his shirts.

"Katrina?" Killian prompts, waving a hand in front of my face.

"Sorry," I mutter, unwilling to think any longer about it.

"Let's play a game," he says suddenly.

"That sounds horrifying." It does, coming from him.

Killian laughs. "Nothing bad."

"What kind of game?" I ask cautiously.

"A question game. We take turns asking questions. The other person has to answer the question, and answer it honestly."

"And if we choose not to answer?" I can already think of a million questions I don't want to answer.

"Darling, I can't believe you don't already know the answer to that question." He sighs in disappointment. "We take off an article of clothing, obviously."

I narrow my eyes at him. "You're only wearing a pair of pants."

"And underwear," he corrects. "But it doesn't matter. I'll answer anything."

"I don't know..." I say hesitantly. This is a bad idea. There are many things I'm hiding from Killian. From myself, too. Things I'm not willing to confront, and especially not admit.

"Oh, come on, Katrina," Killian insists. "Aren't there things you want to ask me?"

Yes. No.

"Fine," I say, instantly regretting it.

Killian grins victoriously. "Ladies first."

"Where's the most interesting place you've ever teleported to?" I ask, choosing an innocuous question first until I warm up to asking what I really want to know.

Killian gets a far-away look in his eyes. "Hard question," he murmurs. "I've been to so many places. Maybe Greece. They have the most beautiful beaches."

"Greece," I say slowly, trying to imagine it. "I've never left the continent."

"You'd love it there." Killian smiles, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "I'll take you some time."

"You'd take me to Greece?" I ask in surprise.

"I'd take you anywhere."

I swallow, and suddenly, this question has turned far more depressing than I intended. So many things and places I would never get to see, wouldn't live long enough to see.

"Your turn," I say, but I already hate this game and want it to be over.

"Are you ever going to make up with your sister?"

"Yeah," I tell him honestly. "I'll talk to her soon."

Before I die, I'll smooth things over with her. I would tie up all loose ends.

He smiles. "Good. Your turn."

"At Dorian's," I say finally. "Why did you kick everyone out to talk to me?"

"In groups of people, you get overwhelmed and don't say much," Killian answers. "You have a hard time focusing because of your Sight. Sometimes you need to be isolated."

His observance shocks me. "You... notice things like that?"

"I notice everything about you, Katrina."

"Why care what I have to say about the situation, and not care about my Sight?" I press.

"It's not your turn, darling," Killian admonishes me.

"Fine. Ask."

"Do you honestly believe that I hate you?" He asks quietly, and he looks scared of my answer.

I know that he's referencing our fight from before Dorian took me, but the question still surprises me. I was expecting much worse questions than these.

Do I really think Killian hates me? I'm in his bed, wearing his shirt, after using his shower. All on his request.

"No," I say finally. "But I do think you like annoying me."

Killian laughs, but looks slightly relieved. "Well, you're not wrong about that."

"Obviously. Now answer my question. Why did you make me explain what I thought about the situation at Dorian's?" He was insistent on me not using my Sight, and I didn't understand it, because my Sight is my most valuable trait.

Killian pauses. "You're too reliant on your Sight. You need to learn how to understand things without counting on it. I know that you're smart enough to make decisions without it. You just don't because it's all you know."

He's not wrong. But he also doesn't understand that my Sight is so integral to who I am, I wouldn't be able to function without it. I could barely function around him without it.

So I don't say anything in response to that except for informing him that it's his turn.

"Why did you bite me?"

Fuck.

Because I don't know how to answer that, don't want to answer that, don't want to think about why, I groan.

"Are you really going to make me take off my clothes?"

"Are you really going to not answer that?"

Sighing, I roll off of him and pull off my shorts. Luckily, his shirt is big enough on me that I'm not too exposed.

He looks disappointed with my lack of answer. "Fine. Your turn."

"Why were you in such a bad mood this morning?"

Killian's face suddenly turns hard. "Different question."

"You made the rules," I remind him.

He shrugs and takes off his pants. I glare at him.

"You're the one with nudity issues, darling," He chuckles. "Not me."

"That's not fair. I'm wearing more clothes than you," I point out.

"Fine. One more question each. You go first."

One more question. So many things I could ask him. So many things I want to know, but can't.

"Why did you claim me as your spoil of war?" I finally decide on.

I threatened someone with war because they woke you up, and you think this is all because I just want a Seer?

His eyes darken. "Because I wanted you from the first moment I saw you."

I swallow. "That could mean a lot of things."

"But it doesn't."

"You're being intentionally vague."

"You're relying on your Sight. Figure it out, Katrina."

"You're bad at this game."

"You're bad at understanding people."

I sigh, but he's right. I never had to learn how to understand people by talking to them, because I could always use my Sight to tell me what I wanted to know. Since my Sight doesn't work on Killian, I'm left completely blind and without any idea of how to make sense of his actions.

"Fine, your turn," I tell him.

"Are you really going to leave in thirteen days?" He asks quietly.

"I'll wait until the wolves are found," I answer slowly. I will tie up all loose ends before I die, including that one.

"And after that?" He asks, his voice tout.

"You're all out of questions," I say shortly, and turn off the lamp.

He pulls me into his arms, for once, gently, and strokes my hair, until I'm nearly asleep.

And I'm not sure when I wake up if I dreamed what I heard him say softly next.

"I don't want you to ever leave."

Don't wait until next week for the next chapter! Read the rest of the book (including exclusive bonus chapters from Killian's POV— one of the chapters being him first meeting Katrina and deciding to claim her as his spoil in Lethal) on my Patreon now.

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