̣⭒˙✵• ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯☽✮☾⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ •✵˙⭒ ̣

I know your motives and you know mine

The ones that love me, I tend to leave behind

If you know about me and choose to stay

Then take this pleasure and take it with the pain

Love Me Harder – Ariana Grande, The Weeknd

Lunchtime is the perfect moment for an inspection, especially when it comes to the Wolves. Whether inside or outside the barrier, they love to eat together; the dining table is their natural habitat.

Tear starts with the five-warriors apartment. He finds the right street, climbs the adjacent building, and peeks through the open windows. He reads the names, checks the photos. Four out of five Wolves are in their place. The missing name makes the Raven raise an eyebrow. They've moved him here now. Lucky for the stray. He starts writing up the report on the first apartment while hopping from one rooftop to the next, heading for his second target. He leans over the edge of the tiles, his center of gravity slipping out from under him, and gravity tugs him backward toward the void. A quick spin, and each balcony becomes the perfect grip, slowing his descent, one leap after another.

His feet hit the cobbled sidewalk without a sound, and then he's darting between pedestrians, dodging them in a fluid dance. Two more turns and he should be there. The apartment is on the third floor. He doesn't hesitate. He reaches the iron French balcony of the apartment with ease. It's the balcony of a bedroom. The chatter from the dining room reveals four voices—two girls, two guys. Tear recognizes Eris's voice first, having grown used to hearing it daily. He's in the right place.

He check the other two Wolf names that should be staying in that apartment. Nilde and Ernest of the Grays—those are the names listed for the place. In the photo, he recognizes the faces instantly. The redhead and the other one, always showing up to visit her at the shack.

"We need to get back to work," says the second girl. Nilde is the one the stray calls 'Nini.' "Lunch breaks out here are non-existent!"

"Behave," says one of the guys, a teasing tone in his voice. It's not the brownish-red Wolf. Ernest 'Nest' maybe?

They all laugh. The metallic click of the front door echoes through the house, and through the walls, Tear can hear the sound of running water and dishes clinking. He watches the bedroom closely. No clues confirm with certainty that this is Eris's room. The weight of the book in his pocket starts to annoy him. He begins to tap his foot on the ground while the rest of his body remains alert on the iron railing. Part of him can't wait to leave.

The sound of dishes stops, followed by the water. In the room next door, a tense silence falls. The Raven strains his ears and holds his breath. A laugh and footsteps move closer. He climbs to the top of the open blinds, his weight perfectly balanced on the last slat, not a sound. At that exact moment, the door to the room opens. From his position, the custos catches a glimpse of something vague in the reflection of the open window. There's no doubt in his mind about the two shadows moving in the glass.

"I missed you," the whisper, soft like a cat's purr, sends a chill down his spine. The brownish-red Wolf.

I have to leave, and fast. He's already got one foot in the void, ready to dive.

"Sh, stop talking," Eris's voice is followed by a rising hum, a wave of energy spreading through the air, like the call she uses on the Flowers.

The anomaly. The soul of the custos, touched by that hum, vibrates with a scorching reverberation, a dizzying bliss with no footholds. His body freezes instantly, breath ragged, heart racing. He presses a hand to his mouth to stifle the irregular sound. Wolves have great hearing. It takes a handful of minutes for the boy to regain control over the aftermath of the first wave. He scans the room as best as he can: the two shadows, now merged into one, are sitting on the edge of one of the beds, locked in an embrace. From his angle, though, he can't tell if they're facing the window or not. A bet. I should never have risked so much for a book.

He slides slowly down the blinds, his feet hitting the railing without a misstep, without a sound. Once again, that frequency of elation overwhelms his soul, weakening his knees and shattering his control over himself. It takes every ounce of his willpower to resist, to stay silent, to keep from falling into the void and surrendering to the warm rapture of the sensation. Standing on the edge of a fall that's at least seven meters, Tear's cold eyes are drawn to Eris's muffled voice. It's not the same scream he's heard from her so many times, the one only the miasma can pull from her. Pure pain, terror. This is softer, more like a whimper. Her face flushed, her breath feverish. 

Her eyes wide at the sight of the Raven. She lowers her gaze to her companion, who shifts beneath her, his breath labored. The bare skin of his shoulders beneath the brownish-red hair lowers as he lies back onto the bed. I have to leave, I need to leave now.

"No!" Eris cries, her fingers digging into Zahir's back, forcing him up. But her eyes, they stay locked on the Raven, frozen on the railing.

"Something wrong?" The Wolf says, his breath just as strained as hers, then instinctively turns his head to follow her gaze.

"Hold me tight," the croí pulls her companion close, his arms tightening around her until a muffled moan escapes her throat.

Eris's lips slowly form a single word, directed at the visitor on the balcony: "Go." That's all it takes to snap Tear into action. He pulls the blue book from his hoodie pocket, shows it to her for a moment, then places it on the corner of the railing, balanced just beneath the sun. She nods ever so slightly, the longing in her eyes deepening, a flush rising in her cheeks. Zahir's arms spin her around, and in one breath, panic twists her expression.

"Wait!" She almost shouts.

Her gaze returns to the exact spot she saw the custos. The moment the cold eyes meet her mismatched ones, it lasts less than an instant, and then the Raven's shadow plummets into the void, swallowed by the blinding sun of Lyon.

Tear lands as gracefully as ever, but in his mind, he can't shake the image of that scene, the sound of Eris's voice in tones he didn't recognize. And that sensation, that warmth, continues to tingle inside him, stealing his breath away. He takes a deep breath to clear his head. The book is delivered, the inspection is done. He finishes the rest of the report on his phone as he strides away through the crowd.

He reaches the car, places the sacred metal back in its spot, and settles into the driver's seat. Inputting the coordinates on his phone is almost automatic. But no matter how hard he tries to focus, those eyes keep resurfacing. His hands slide off the wheel, and the keys click into the ignition without the roar of the engine. What was that? The gray-blue eyes wander into the empty space, trying desperately to shake those images that feel etched in the back of his pupils. It was a mistake to accompany her. A deep breath, the keys turn, the engine growls. I need to stay focused.

̣⭒˙✵• ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯☽✮☾⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ •✵˙⭒ ̣