Caesar's POV
"Why? Are you scared of him?" Janevera asked, her chin lifting slightly, her tone sharply testing and daring me.
A low, humorless sound rumbled from my throat, half a laugh, half disbelief. I looked away for a brief second, the corner of my mouth curving into something that wasn't quite a smile. Scared? The word itself was almost amusing. If anyone should've been watching their back, it should be Neven, not me.
When I looked back at her, she was still holding my gaze, though her defiance wavered for just a moment. I didn't move forward, I didn't need to. The space between us was already too small, the kind that hummed with quiet tension. The heat rolling off me pressed into her, and I could feel the shift in her breathing, the tiny hitch she tried to hide.
Her eyes flicker
