Her thoughts snapped when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Eric.
"I gotta take this. Just be quiet." She glared at the stranger leaning against her kitchen counter.
Rey only smiled, that impossible grin.
"Hey, are you okay? You just bolted out of the lecture and freaked me out," Eric's voice came through.
"Yeah, sorry. I had something… annoying to deal with," she said, keeping her tone light. "Anyways, I'm okay. Thanks, Eric."
She hung up and turned to speak to him—he was gone.
"For fuck's sake," she muttered, exhaling shakily. Maybe she really was losing it.
By nightfall, she was in her room, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Dark circles shadowed her eyes. She tried to smooth a hand over her jaw, a faint attempt at composure.
"As beautiful as ever." The voice from the corner made her spin.
"Excuse me? How can you just barge into strangers' homes like it's no big deal?" she demanded, stepping toward him.
He leaned casually, silver eyes glinting, that grin playing at his lips. "Do you really not remember our deal, Ava darling?"
"The hell with your deal! I don't even know you. I'll call the cops—" She grabbed her phone.
Before she could dial, he moved closer, so close the air between them seemed to hum. He reached up and brushed a strand of her black hair behind her ear.
The motion was gentle, intimate, impossible to ignore. Avalyn froze, her chest tightening, though she lifted her chin defiantly.
"Don't waste your time," he murmured, voice low, intimate. "They won't see me."
She swallowed, furious but aware of the flutter that ran through her body. "Who gave you the authority to just… do this?"
Rey's silver eyes glimmered with amusement.
"God, you're of yourself," she snapped, but her voice trembled slightly.
"Only because you asked me to be." He leaned just a fraction closer, close enough that she could feel his warmth, smell the faint scent of rain and night. "You begged me once, Ava. You made a choice. I honored it."
Her chest tightened. Fear, confusion, something like longing pressed against her ribs. "Why would I—why would I bargain with… this?"
"Fear makes strange companions," he said, his gaze locked on hers. "And promises have a way of keeping themselves." Then softer: "You made me promise. I kept it."
She blinked, heart pounding. "Then… what now?"
He smiled, near enough that his breath tickled her ear. "Now," he whispered, "you keep your part of the deal."