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The mission unraveled in seconds.
One moment, everything was clean- timed, precise. The next, alarms cut through the night and boots thundered through the streets of Insomnia. Nyx didn’t hesitate. He caught Y/N’s wrist and pulled her hard to the side, steering them into the shadows before she could even process what had gone wrong.
The hiding place was barely there at all- a narrow gap between two buildings, the stone walls close enough to steal the air from her lungs. Nyx stepped in after her, the space forcing them chest to chest, her back pressing into cold stone as he angled his body in front of hers.
Too close.
He stopped just short of touching her, but it hardly mattered. His presence was everywhere- solid, overwhelming. His breath brushed her cheek, warm against the chill of the stone, carrying the faint scent of smoke, steel, and magic burned too close to the surface.
Outside the crevice, voices passed. Low. Alert. Boots scraped against pavement, slow and searching.
“Stay quiet,” Nyx murmured.
His lips were so close to her ear that the words vibrated through her.
Y/N nodded, afraid that even breathing too loudly might give them away. She should have been listening for danger, tracking the patrols, counting seconds until they could move again.
Instead, she was acutely aware of him.
Of the way his chest rose and fell inches from hers. Of how carefully he was holding himself still, like one wrong movement might shatter something fragile between them. Her pulse skidded, refusing to settle, every beat loud in her ears.
Nyx planted his hands on the stone on either side of her head. His fingers twitched once, then stilled, knuckles whitening as if restraint cost him something. The cocky confidence he usually wore like armor was gone. In its place was something quieter. Focused. Dangerous in an entirely different way.
Time slowed.
The city seemed to fade, the sounds outside blurring into background noise as the space between them grew heavy. She could feel the heat of him without being touched. Could swear she felt the echo of his heartbeat- steady, controlled, betraying nothing.
Or maybe that pounding was hers.
Nyx’s gaze flicked downward.
Just for a second.
Her lips.
The faint glow of the city traced the sharp lines of his face, catching in his eyes. There was hesitation there. A flicker of something unguarded. As though he was standing at the edge of a choice he’d been avoiding for far too long.
“This isn’t exactly how I pictured our first date,” he breathed, voice low, barely more than a whisper.
The teasing note was there- but strained, stretched thin over something far more honest.
Y/N swallowed. “You think this counts as a date?”
The corner of his mouth lifted, but it wasn’t his usual smirk. It was softer. Slower. The kind of smile that felt like a confession he hadn’t meant to make.
“We’ve got the atmosphere,” he murmured. “Close quarters. Adrenaline.” His gaze lingered on her face, unhurried. “Hearts racing.”
His eyes met hers again, holding.
“What more do you want?”
She should have broken it then.
Should have shoved him back, whispered a warning, reminded him where they were. Reminded herself. But the air between them felt thick, charged, like the moment just before lightning strikes.
And Nyx wasn’t looking at her like this was a joke.
He was looking at her like he’d thought about this- about her- more than once. Like he’d memorized the way she breathed, the way her eyes flicked to his mouth before she caught herself.
Approaching voices cut through the moment, sharp and sudden.
Nyx stiffened instantly, all instinct snapping back into place. The wall between them slammed back up, seamless and practiced.
Game over.
He shifted first, guiding her out of the crevice with a hand at her wrist, light but grounding. They slipped into the shadows and ran, boots barely touching the ground as they vanished into the night.
But even as they put distance between themselves and the patrols, Y/N could still feel it- the echo of his closeness, the weight of what hadn’t happened.
Something had changed.
She felt it in the way her breath refused to slow. In the way her skin still buzzed where he’d almost touched her.
And when Nyx glanced back at her- jaw tight, eyes dark with something that hadn’t faded-
She knew he felt it too.