Chapter 149: I love you.

Chapter 149: Chapter 149: I love you.


Crimson light flickered once against the paneling of the corridor as Victor moved, his stride measured but silent, every inch of him still holding the echo of the form he had just worn. By the time he reached the door of Elias’s study, the smell of imperial iris threaded with Ashwin’s faint cologne was already sliding under the threshold.


He pushed the door open without knocking.


Inside, Elias sat in the armchair, one ankle hooked over his knee, a blanket draped carelessly over his lap, and a half-finished mug of coffee on the table. Ashwin sprawled on the sofa like he’d been poured there, boots crossed, a small smirk tugging at his mouth as he flicked through something on his phone with idle thumbs. The low glow of the desk lamp painted them both in warm light, casual, domestic, and too casual for Victor’s tastes.


His crimson eyes swept the room once.


Blanket. Coffee. Ashwin.


The muscle in his jaw ticked.


Ashwin looked up first, a grin sharpening at whatever he saw in Victor’s expression. "Master Victor," he drawled, slipping his phone into his pocket and stretching lazily. "You’re back. Sky still intact?"


Victor’s gaze slid to him, slow and dangerous, but his voice stayed velvet-dark. "For now."


Ashwin stood, brushing invisible lint from his jacket. "Good to know. My babysitting contract’s officially up then." He stepped toward the door, pausing just long enough to glance back at Elias, the grin turning into something sly. "Be honest with him, Clarke. Saves everyone time."


Elias’s scowl was immediate, a flash of heat across his face. "What the fuck, Ashwin?"


But Ashwin only winked, slipping past Victor with a muttered, "Try not to kill each other," before the door shut behind him.


Silence stretched, thick with imperial iris and the faint scorch still clinging to Victor’s shirt. Victor took a step closer, the black-stone ring catching the light, his gaze fixed on Elias with a weight that made the air feel heavier.


"Comfortable?" Victor asked softly, the edge of jealousy buried under a casual tone that fooled neither of them.


Elias tugged the blanket higher and tried, unsuccessfully, to look anywhere but at him.


"So, what do you have to tell me?"


Elias shifted under the blanket, fingers smoothing an invisible crease just to keep them busy. "About what?" he said finally, trying his best to look innocent.


Victor’s head tipped a fraction, the crimson in his eyes flaring like banked coals. "About why Ashwin walks out of my house, telling you to be honest with me." His tone sat low, velvet and heavy, like a door closing behind them.


Elias’s mouth twitched, a half-grimace, half-smile that never quite reached his eyes. "Ashwin likes to hear himself talk."


Victor didn’t move. He simply stood there, hands loose at his sides, the black-stone ring catching a shard of lamp light. "Ashwin likes to live. He wouldn’t push you if he thought it would put him on my wrong side." He took one more slow step closer, enough that the scent of scorched ether still clinging to his shirt mixed with the imperial iris between them. "So. What did he think you should tell me?"


Elias finally looked up at him, brown eyes a little too bright, a little too sharp. "That I’ve fallen for you," he said flatly, as if pulling a splinter, the admission forced out before he could hide it again. "Happy now?"


For a beat Victor didn’t answer. The fire in his eyes steadied, slow and molten, the only sign of movement the subtle tightening of his jaw. Then, slowly, he crossed the last bit of space between them and crouched so they were at eye level. "Say it again."


Elias’s breath hitched, his fingers clenching on the blanket. "I thought you knew."


"I do," Victor said quietly, the velvet edge of his voice carrying more weight than any shout could. "But I want to hear you say it."


"You..." Elias narrowed his eyes at him, exhaling hard through his nose as if trying to push the words back down. Instead he felt them rise, hot and steady, until they filled his chest. He closed his eyes once, then opened them again and met Victor’s gaze head-on. "I love you."


Victor stilled as if the room itself had gone silent. The faint tremor of ether from Theobald’s distant ascension hummed somewhere beneath them, but here, in this space, there was only imperial iris and scorched ether and the black-stone ring glinting on his hand.


His jaw eased. A slow breath slipped from him, molten red softening behind his eyes. "I love you too."


The words were quiet but they landed heavy, like a verdict rather than a flourish. Victor rarely said anything he didn’t mean; he didn’t waste declarations the way other men did.


He reached up, thumb brushing once against Elias’s cheekbone, a small, grounding touch that still carried all the force of his presence. "And now," he murmured, voice velvet-low, "you don’t ever have to wonder."


Elias’s lips parted, but nothing came out. The air between them felt different, less like a battlefield and more like a held breath. His fingers tightened on the blanket, then, slowly, he let it go and laid his palm over Victor’s ring instead. The black stone was warm under his skin, and for the first time in a long time, so was the space inside his chest.


Victor’s eyes stayed on him, molten but steady. "Good," he said softly. "No more hiding."


The hand on Victor’s ring slid higher, fingers brushing over his knuckles, up to his wrist. His other hand found the edge of Victor’s collar, tugging him closer with a small, decisive pull. Their foreheads met first, and the warmth of Victor’s skin was almost shocking after the cold he’d carried all day; it seeped into Elias’s palms and into the hollow between them until the chill under his ribs began to thaw.


Then, finally, Elias tilted his face up and closed the last inch.


Victor’s mouth was warm; the first brush of lips was soft enough to be a question, but it carried the faint taste of coffee and smoke, of something older and stranger hiding beneath the cologne on his skin. Elias’s breath caught against him, a small tremor running through his shoulders before he let go of it and leaned in harder, eyes falling shut.


Victor answered with the same patience he’d shown in his voice, deepening the kiss just enough to make the room tilt. His fingers slid from Elias’s jaw to the back of his neck, the pressure light, thumb stroking once in a slow circle. The heat of him bled through every point of contact, and the faint thrum of his pheromones curled around them like a low heartbeat.


Elias’s hands tightened in the fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer, needing the solidity of his chest under his palms as much as the kiss itself. There was no rush to it, just the taste of him, the warmth, and the way Victor’s breath mingled with his own until it was impossible to tell which of them was shivering first.


When Victor finally drew back a fraction, their mouths still a breath apart, the faintest trace of a smile ghosted against Elias’s lips, warm for the one he loved.