Chapter 40: Hollow Flame
The apartment hadn't changed, but Aria had.
Selene had been gone for days — no messages, no calls, just silence. Aria sat curled at the edge of the bed, wearing a hoodie too big for her, one that didn't belong to her. The sleeves drooped past her fingers, the fabric worn and soft, still faintly clinging to a scent both sharp and clean. Pine and frost. Selene. It felt like a haunting more than comfort.
Her fingers fidgeted at the fraying cuffs as she stared at the door, willing it to open. It didn't. She loathed the way the silence pressed in, how it turned every tick of the clock into a reminder that she was alone. She wasn't supposed to need anyone. But she missed her. Miserably.
They'd argued. Not even a real fight, just another petty spark that caught between two flints. Selene said she was staying out of the next supply run — too dangerous, too unstable out there with the roamers. Aria had demanded to go. Selene refused. Aria snapped, told her to leave if she didn't trust her. Selene did.
Now the silence in the apartment was heavy, waiting. Aria hadn't touched the leftover food or powered up the consoles. Everything sat where Selene left it, like pieces of a ghost frozen mid - step.
She wandered to the window, arms crossed, gaze falling on the chaos outside. The city glowed in fractured colors, restless in the distance — sirens flashing, lights flickering, shadows twitching in places they shouldn't. But it wasn't the city she feared.
It was the echo of the girl who left.
A breeze of memory brushed her — Selene's cool fingers trailing along her neck, the glint in those forest - green eyes when Aria flushed. That look that said I see everything you're trying to hide, and I like it.
Aria hissed under her breath and shoved away from the glass.
Fine. She wasn't going to mope.
She headed down to the apartment gym. The place still smelled faintly like rubber and sweat, but it was quiet. The last time they trained here, Selene had called her "flamelet" and mocked her footwork. Aria had swung at her. Selene caught her wrist with a smug grin and said, "Try again. Slower. Let me see how you move."
It made her blood boil just remembering it.
She stripped the hoodie and stepped barefoot onto the mat. No warm - up. She didn't need it. She didn't want it. She needed to hit something.
Her body moved on muscle memory. Strike. Twist. Kick. Her power simmered under her skin, threatening to rise, but she held it back, funneled it into precision. The rhythm was brutal. Beautiful. Flame flickered across her knuckles and bled into her veins, warming her like armor. Controlled now. Focused.
Time disappeared. She didn't stop until her chest burned and sweat soaked her spine, until her lungs begged for air. She dropped to her knees, hands on the mat, panting.
Then the air shifted.
It was subtle — but distinct. Like the room exhaled after holding its breath too long.
A presence behind her. Cold, quiet, familiar.
"So," came the low, amused voice, "you do remember how to move."
Aria's head snapped up. She whirled.
Selene stood in the doorway, dripping from the rain, frost clinging to the hem of her coat. Her hair was wet, slicked back, her eyes unreadable. Her expression, though, was pure trouble.
"You —" Aria's voice broke with the storm inside her. "Where the hell have you been?"
Selene shrugged out of her coat. "Out."
"That's it? Out?"
"You told me to go."
"I didn't mean vanish," Aria snapped. "You could've died!"
Selene stepped into the room, her boots silent on the floor. "You were worried?"
"No."
"Liar."
Aria flushed. "You don't get to do that. You don't get to show up and act like nothing happened."
"I'm not. I came back, didn't I?"
"After disappearing for four days!"
Selene's tone softened. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"Well, you did."
They stood in silence for a moment, breathing each other in. Aria was still kneeling on the mat, half - shaking from the workout and rage and adrenaline. Selene crouched in front of her, fingers brushing under her chin with infuriating gentleness.
"You're trembling, flamelet."
"I'm not —" Aria started, but the denial melted under her blush.
Selene smirked. "You always were a terrible liar."
"You're always a terrible person."
"I missed you too."
Before Aria could fire back, Selene rose and extended a hand. "Let's see if you remember what I taught you."
Aria blinked. "You want to spar?"
"I want to make you sweat — for real this time."
"Cocky."
"Terrified?"
"Of you? Never."
They circled on the mat. Aria lunged first, fast and angry. Selene blocked it with ease, spun away. Again and again. Every strike Aria threw was met with effortless counters. Her frustration built like steam.
"You're holding back," Aria growled.
"I'm not," Selene said calmly. "You're just off-balance."
Aria hissed and charged again. A feint. A sweep. A jab. Selene dodged it all, graceful and maddening. Her smirk widened with each failed attempt.
"You're enjoying this," Aria accused.
"Oh, immensely."
"Shrew."
"You like it."
Aria did. And she hated that she did.
She gritted her teeth and went for a full - body tackle. Selene pivoted, but Aria caught her off - guard this time. Their bodies collided. They hit the mat in a tangle, Aria on top. Her breath hitched.
Selene lay beneath her, smiling up, hair fanned out, eyes like a forest fire in winter.
"You win," Selene whispered.
Aria hadn't realized her left hand was braced on Selene's abdomen. Her fingers twitched — accidentally brushing along the muscle line beneath her shirt. She stilled, startled by the contact, by the warmth that flooded her despite Selene's cold skin.
Her fingertips began to trace, unthinking. Soft, curious.
Selene's breath hitched — cool against Aria's neck.
Then Aria realized what she was doing and jerked her hand back, red - faced. "I — I wasn't —"
"You can do whatever you want," Selene murmured, voice husky.
The words hit like fire. Aria's heart skipped. Her breath stuttered. Heat bloomed under her skin, burned at her ears.
Selene's hand slid up her thigh, settling just beneath the hem of her shorts. "Look at me."
Aria did. Pale grey met forest green. The hunger in Selene's gaze made her bite her lip.
"Still trembling," Selene whispered.
"I hate you."
"Liar."
Selene leaned up and kissed the corner of her jaw, then her neck. Slow. Cold. Electric.
Aria whimpered when teeth grazed her earlobe, her body arching before she could stop it.
Selene flipped them effortlessly, straddling Aria now, pinning her with a look.
"Tell me to stop," she breathed into Aria's ear.
Aria tried to say something — anything — but Selene's lips found her collarbone, then lower, trailing fire in every frozen kiss. Her mouth roamed with teasing precision, slow and infuriating.
Aria bit her lip hard, a soft moan escaping anyway.
Selene kissed her again, this time deep. Thorough. When their lips parted, Aria gasped for breath, dizzy.
"God, I missed this," Selene murmured.
Aria dragged her nails lightly down Selene's back. "I'll kill you if you leave again."
"Promise?"
"You'll find out."
They stayed tangled on the mat until Aria's legs ached and her arms trembled. Until Selene rolled them over and murmured things into her skin that made Aria blush too hard to answer. She'd pretend not to remember half of them by morning.
When the chill crept back in, Aria didn't retreat from it.
She wrapped herself in it. In her.
Selene didn't leave again that night.