Chapter 156: Leave Cancelled.
The night had found me in Azure’s room and hadn’t let go until morning.
She was still beside me when I woke, curled against my side, breathing slow and deep. The red stripes along her ribs and hips pulsed faintly with each inhale, glowing soft rose in the early light slipping through the curtains. Her pink hair spilled across the pillow and over my chest like silk threads.
"Azure," I said quietly.
She forced herself up with obvious reluctance, eyes fluttering open, the specific heavy-lidded resistance of a body that hadn’t finished what it started. She yawned, jaw cracking softly, pink hair falling messily across her face as she rubbed one eye with the back of her hand.
"You’re going?" she murmured, voice thick with sleep.
"Yeah," I said. I leaned down and kissed her forehead, lips lingering against warm blue skin. "We’ll stay in touch."
"Kayy..." She was already sinking back into the sheets, eyes closing again, one arm reaching out lazily to brush my thigh before falling limp.
I got up, dressed quietly, and slipped out.
***
I had seen almost everyone. Annabelle. Mable. Isabelle. Azure. Everyone except Daphne.
I took the familiar path toward the teachers’ quarters. Every step felt carved into memory now, the slight dip in the stone walkway, the way the morning light cut through the trees at this exact angle, the distant chime of the school bell that used to mark the end of something and the beginning of something else.
Daphne was the person i had sprinted to in the dark, the night the system counted down. Her door had always been unlocked for me.
I didn’t know if she was still here. The news that School Central was closing hung unresolved in the back of everything.
I walked up the stairs to her door, boots quiet on the worn stone. I raised my hand and knocked, two solid raps that echoed down the empty corridor.
The sound faded.
For a moment there was only silence. Then the soft creak of floorboards inside. The faint click of a lock turning.
The door opened.
Daphne stood there in a simple white blouse and dark skirt, hair pulled back loosely, the same sharp, intelligent eyes I remembered. She looked at me for a long second, one hand still on the doorframe, the other drifting up to touch her collar as if confirming she was really seeing me.
"Abram," she said, voice low and steady, but the small catch at the end gave her away.
She stepped forward without another word and pulled me into a tight embrace, arms wrapping around my back, face pressing against my shoulder. Her scent, clean paper, faint ink, and something warmer underneath, hit me all at once. I held her just as tightly, one hand cradling the back of her head, fingers threading through her hair.
"When did you start answering the door again?" I asked against her temple.
"When I started expecting your knock," she said, voice low and warm.
I pulled back just enough to look at her. Something had changed since Hogsby. Not her face. Something behind it. More settled. More present. The specific quality of someone who had gotten something back that she had been living without for too long. Her ability. Fully restored. Running underneath everything she did now like a quiet current.
"Should I come in?" I asked.
She answered by catching my face in both hands and kissing me.
The kiss was immediate, hungry, and deep. Her lips parted mine, tongue sliding hot and urgent against my own. She started walking backward, pulling me with her, never breaking the kiss. I followed, hands sliding down to her waist, gripping the fabric of her skirt as we moved in a clumsy, heated tangle through the doorway.
Our mouths moved together, wet, breathless, teeth grazing lips. She backed up, hips swaying, pulling me deeper into the room. I kicked the door shut behind us without looking. The latch clicked. Her back hit the wall with a soft thud. I pressed into her, chest to chest, one thigh sliding between hers as she arched against me.
She gasped into my mouth, fingers tightening in my hair, tugging hard enough to sting. Her tongue curled around mine, sucking gently before she bit my lower lip and pulled back just enough to breathe. Her eyes were half-lidded, dark with heat.
We kept moving. She walked backward again, lips never leaving mine, hands roaming down my chest, nails scraping lightly over my shirt. I followed every step, hands sliding under her blouse, palms gliding over the warm, smooth skin of her back.
The room passed in fragments, the edge of her desk, a chair pushed aside, books scattered on the floor as we bumped into them.
Her legs hit the bed. She fell back onto it, pulling me down on top of her in one fluid motion. The mattress dipped under our combined weight. Her skirt rode high up her thighs as her legs wrapped around my waist, heels digging into the small of my back, drawing me closer.
I settled between her spread thighs, hips pressing down, the hard length of my cock grinding against her through our clothes. The thick ridge dragged slowly along her heat, fabric dampening between us as she rolled her hips up to meet every slow thrust.
Then the watch vibrated against my wrist.
We both froze. The low buzz cut through the heavy breathing like a blade.
I lifted my arm. Bala’s name glowed cold and white on the screen.
"Do you mind?" I asked, voice rough.
Daphne looked at me with the expression of someone who already knew the answer and had decided to be gracious about it. She exhaled slowly, chest rising and falling against mine, then gave a small nod.
I answered.
"Abram." Bala’s voice came through, direct as always. "I’m sorry to cut your leave short. Report to headquarters now."
Daphne heard every word. She sat up slowly beneath me, smoothing her skirt down her thighs with both hands in one composed motion, the specific grace of someone who had been interrupted before and knew exactly how to absorb it without breaking.
"You’re going," she said quietly.
"After this," I said, leaning down. "I’m not leaving you on hold."
She looked at me for a long moment, her eyes searching mine. Then she smiled, small, real, the kind that meant she believed me.
"Go," she said. "Come back when you can."
I kissed her forehead, then stood. I straightened my shirt, tucking it in with quick movements, adjusting my belt. Daphne stayed on the edge of the bed, watching me, one hand resting on the sheets where my body had been.
"The door is always open?" I asked.
"Always," she said.
I walked out into the School Central morning. The door clicked shut behind me. Sunlight hit my face, bright and sharp. I headed back toward the capital, the three days that had just become considerably shorter pressing against my ribs with every step.