Page 14 of Fallacies

I snatch it away before she can grab it. “You have to get up, Chaos.”

She scrubs her hands over her face, getting more frustrated by the second. “But why?” she groans.

“Training.”

Lucina huffs as if I’ve told her a joke. “No,” she decides. “Not happening.”

“No?” I drop the blankets to the floor, and she tracks my steps as I move around to her side of the bed.

“We can do this the hard way,” I tell her. “Is that what you want?”

Lucina glares up at me, but there’s more intrigue there than anger. She’s curious.

“Fine, then.” I let magic flood the room—static and heat filling the small space. At first, she doesn’t catch the warning, looking confusedly at the mattress as it heats beneath her. Then more heat spills out of me, and the path from warm to scorching is almost instantaneous.

Lucina curses as she jumps from the bed, spinning around with an angry finger pressed into my chest. “Asshole,” she breathes.

“We had to get Nix out of bed the same way.”

“Nix?”

I nod, remembering how he burst from the bed faster than Lucina did, then proceeded to threaten us the entire walk to the Yard. “He was the last one to be initiated,” I explain.

Lucina’s eyes widen in panic. “This is initiation? I thought I had a week⁠—”

“You do,” I assure her, and relief sinks her shoulders. “But clearing Albatross is your ticket to initiation. You have to pass it first.”

The panic is back. “What the fuck is Albatross?”

My lips part to reply, but I quickly tighten them, exhaling a defeated breath.

Lucina scoffs. “You can’t tell me, can you?”

I shake my head, gesturing to the folded clothes at the foot of the bed. “But I can show you.”

If looks could kill, I’d be bleeding out right now with how deadly her glare is, but I don’t back away or back down. I fold my arms across my chest to signal that I’m unmoving in our stalemate, and thankfully, she breaks first.

“Fine.” Lucina moves to the end of the bed. “But you’re going to have to deal with the consequences later when I’m tired and hungry and…probably injured.”

“You won’t be injured,” I promise her. “And I can handle the consequences.”

She pulls her shirt over her head, the only piece of clothing she decided to sleep in, and tosses the offending fabric to the ground.

My heart pounds. A deep thud in my ears as I peruse her flawless skin. Her soft curves, her full breasts, her new muscles.

It’s torture, and I itch to move towards her, but that's what she wants. To throw me off my mission. To get herself a few more hours of sleep.

When I meet her stare, she’s still vexed, but there’s victory in her eyes, too. “You’re sure?”

My lips twitch, but a smile right now wouldn’t go over well.

I move around the bed, coming up behind her before I can think better of it. She inhales sharply when I slip a hand around her waist, spreading my fingers across her stomach. Lucina leans into the touch, and there’s a shift in her breathing when I lean down to press a kiss to the base of her neck. It’s gentle. Soft. And I shouldn’t be doing it.

We should be halfway to the Yard by now.

Pressing my fingers deeper into her skin, I trail a line up to her ear. “I’m sure,” I whisper, then pull myself away.

She turns to face me as I move back towards the door.