Dawn Walker Novel Chapter 37: Firelight Promises II

Chapter 37: 37: Firelight Promises II

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"The look you used to have when you wanted to smile but refused," Lily said.

Sekht stared at her.

"I do not refuse," he said.

Lily’s brows lifted.

"You are refusing right now," she said.

Sekht sighed, low and tired.

"Stop watching

like that," he muttered.

Lily leaned forward a little, elbows on her knees.

"Like what," she asked, innocent in tone and guilty in eyes.

Sekht held her gaze for a mont too long, then looked away, back at the fire.

"The way you used to," he said quietly.

Lily’s expression softened again, sothing almost wistful passing through her eyes.

"I used to watch you because you were always leaving," she said.

Sekht’s jaw tightened.

"I was a child," he said.

"So was I," Lily replied.

Sekht breathed out slowly.

The firelight flickered across his face. The shadows moved like mories.

He did not want to talk about leaving.

Leaving was a wound.

Leaving was what caused people to beco strangers.

Yet here she was, not a stranger, sitting across from him as if ti had bent for her alone.

Lily’s voice dropped lower.

"When I ca back after seven years," she said, "I thought you would still be in Slik. I thought I would walk into the city and you would be there, still... you."

Sekht’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"And you were disappointed," he said.

Lily shrugged.

"I was angry," she corrected. "Because you were gone. And nobody told

where you were. Your father would not speak about it. He just... smiled politely and changed the subject."

Sekht’s lips pressed together.

"That sounds like him," he admitted.

Lily’s gaze sharpened.

"I asked your uncle," she continued. "He said you were training in purgatory and would return when your ti was done."

Sekht exhaled.

"And you believed him," he said.

Lily tilted her head.

"I tried," she said honestly. "But after a year, then two, then three... I stopped believing ti would bring you back. So I decided I would go find you."

Sekht’s eyes narrowed again.

"That is stupid," he said bluntly.

Lily smiled.

"Yes," she agreed. "It was."

Sekht blinked.

He expected her to argue.

Instead, she admitted it so easily that he did not know how to respond.

Lily leaned back, watching the fire.

"I did not co alone," she said. "My father would never allow it. He argued for days. He threatened to lock

in the manor. He offered

everything —rings, titles, permission to travel anywhere else— just not purgatory."

Sekht’s gaze flicked to her, surprised.

"And you still ca," he said.

Lily’s smile returned, stubborn.

"I still ca," she confird.

Sekht stared at her for a long mont.

"She has always been like this."

Even when she was twelve, she was stubborn. She chased what she wanted without sha. She fought servants and tutors with words and tears and threats, and sohow she always won.

Now, that stubbornness has grown sharper.

It had survived training.

It had survived years.

It had brought her into purgatory and kept her alive long enough for him to find her.

Sekht’s voice ca out lower.

"You could have died," he said.

Lily t his gaze.

"I could have," she agreed. "But I did not."

Sekht’s jaw tightened again, not with anger now but with the deep, quiet frustration of soone who cared and hated that he cared.

"Do not do it again," he said.

Lily’s brows lifted.

"Do what," she asked.

"Throw yourself into danger for a reason that sounds romantic in your head," Sekht replied.

Lily’s cheeks colored again, faint but visible in the firelight.

"I did not co for romance," she said quickly.

Sekht’s mouth twitched.

"You ca to find sothing," he said, reminding her.

Lily nodded.

"Yes," she said, calr now. "And to find you too."

Sekht stared at the fire, feeling the warmth on his hands.

He did not know what to do with the second part.

He had never been good with emotions. Even as a child, he treated feelings like ssy paint. He preferred clean lines, clean plans, clean survival.

But Lily did not belong to clean lines.

Lily belonged to chaos.

Soft chaos.

The kind that laughed and demanded attention and refused to be forgotten.

Bat Bat crawled off Lily’s lap and waddled over to Sekht’s knee, then climbed up his leg like a tiny determined soldier.

"Bat Bat tired," it announced.

Sekht stared at it.

"You were sleeping on her lap," he said.

Bat Bat nodded.

"Yes. Now I sleep here."

Sekht sighed.

Bat Bat curled up on Sekht’s thigh like it was the most comfortable bed in the world.

Within monts, it was snoring softly.

Snrrrk...

Lily watched the bat with a small smile.

"It really trusts you," she said.

Sekht’s voice ca out quieter.

"It is bound to ," he said carefully, choosing the truth that did not reveal the deeper truth.

Lily nodded, then asked softly, "Do you trust it?"

Sekht hesitated. Then he answered honestly. "Yes," he said.

Lily’s gaze softened again. Then she asked the next question gently, like testing the edge of a blade.

"Do you trust ?"

Sekht’s eyes lifted to hers.

The guards around the camp were quiet. The fire crackled. The night held its breath.

Sekht did not answer quickly.

Trust was a dangerous word. Trust killed people in purgatory. Trust makes you turn your back at the wrong mont. Trust makes you think you could sleep deeper than you should. But Lily was not a stranger. And she had proven sothing tonight.

She had not demanded answers. She had not pressed him to reveal secrets. She had listened. She had waited. She had survived.

Sekht exhaled slowly. "I trust you more than most," he said.

Lily’s smile was small but real. "That is the most romantic thing you have ever said," she teased.

Sekht frowned. "That was not romantic," he said.

Lily leaned forward, eyes bright. "It was," she insisted.

Sekht sighed. "I am not trying to be romantic," he muttered.

Lily’s smile softened into sothing gentler. "I know," she said. "That is why it is romantic."

Sekht stared at her. He had no defense against that logic. He turned his gaze back to the fire, letting the heat press into his palms.

"This is dangerous."

Not the monsters. Not the ridges. Not the eight-thousand battle power leader he killed earlier.

This. Sitting with soone who knew him. Feeling sothing that had nothing to do with blood thirst or survival.

That was dangerous. Because it reminded him he was still human. And being human in purgatory was not always an advantage. Especially when he needs to drink blood for living.

Crackle...