Chapter 6 Six

The morning sun filtered through the narrow cracks in the boarded up windows, casting golden streaks across the safehouse living room. Seraphina stirred under a thin blanket, squinting at the unfamiliar light. For the first time in 5 years, she wasn't confined to a cell or a locked room. Yet the calm of the morning only heightened her awareness. Each creak in the floorboards or distant car horn felt amplified, a subtle reminder that the world outside was dangerous and that safety here was tenuous at best.

She rolled over, yawning, and noticed Kael was gone. A faint relief settled in her chest.

He's probably checking the perimeter or organizing weapons or whatever the hell assassins do in their sparr time.

She sat up, stretching, imagining living with him might not be as suffocating as she'd feared. At least she could have her private moments.

With a deep breath, she decided on a bath. A real bath, with warm water and the faint scent of lavender from the small bottle he had left on a shelf. Maybe in this place, she could pretend for just a moment, that she wasn't being hunted.

She drew the water, sinking in, letting the warmth seep into her muscles. Her eyes closed, the world softening around the edges. The sound of the safehouse was familiar now-creaks, the distant hum of the city, the occasional rustle outside. She relaxed enough to smile faintly.

Peace at last.

Then the door flew open.

Her head snapped towards the door, thinking they were under attack but instead, Kael stood there, eyes wide, jaw tense... and then the faintest smirk touched his lips. "Uh... thought you'd left?"

Seraphina shrieked, splashing water onto the floor and his boots. "Kael! What the hell?!"

"Bathroom occupied?" he asked dryly, lifting one hand as if surrendering. His other hand held a folded map, which trembled slightly from the splash. "You busy? I wanted to talk through some strateg-"

"What the hell do you mean am I busy?" she shouted, flinging a wet towel at him. "The fuck do you think people do in locked bathrooms? Karaoke?!"

He dodged the towel with a casual step back, green eyes glinting with amusement. "Noted. Apologies, Phina. Won't happen again... probably." Then his lips twitched into a smirk, "Although on second thought, this isn't a bad way to start my mornings."

She glared at him, dripping water across the tiles. "Get the hell out of here you bloody pervert!"

"Aye aye captain," he said, backing out with a mock salute. "Next time I'll at least yell 'incoming' before I barge in to give you enough time to look sexy for me."

He closed the door just in time to escape the flying bar of soap that was aimed right for his head.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By the time she got out, wrapped in a towel, she realized her cheeks were pink- not just from the water, but from irritation and something else she wasn't ready to name. Kael had already started unpacking supplies in the kitchen, humming under his breath like he owned the place- which, technically, he did.

Breakfast was an adventure. Seraphina had decided she would cook. Something simple: eggs. How hard could eggs be?

Kael sat at the kitchen counter, arms crossed, watching her chop with more force than finesse. "Uhm, Phina, remind me again... aren't women supposed to know how to cook?"

Seraphina said rolling her eyes, "Didn't think misogyny came with the assassin job description."

"Misogynistic? Me?" He said with a hand to his chest feigning being hurt. "You wound me, princess."

"You're impossible," she muttered, blowing at the eggs. "And also not helping."

He stepped closer, reaching for the pan. "Here. Let's try something else." He flicked his fingers, adjusting the heat, tilting the pan with a precise hand. Seraphina watched, tense, then realized he wasn't just taking over- he was teaching without saying it outright.

The eggs came out edible. Almost. She glared at him. "You cheated."

He raised a single eyebrow. "How can you cheat at breakfast?"

She raised her chin stubbornly, "I don't know... but you did."

He let out a small laugh. "Well, I'm sorry if I offended her royal highness. Next time I'll leave you to show case all the cooking experience you got while living with at least 5 professional chefs who made all your meals"

This time, he ducked before the fork met his eye.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The morning carried on with small lessons in domestic life. Kael showed her how to handle the weapons without leaving them scattered, how to silently move through the safehouse, even how to ration water and food. Each instruction came with a new wave of arguements.

"Seriously, Phina," he said one afternoon as she tried stacking boxes of supplies. "Boxes go bottom to top, not top to bottom. Gravity, remember?"

"I remember gravity," she snapped. "I also remember how pointless this is! I want to learn how to fight. How to shoot. I want to be ale to defend myself."

"Patience, Princess. " He said like he was trying to calm an erratic child, green eyes catching the sunlight. "First we need to teach you how to hold a gun without shooting your finger off."

"Don't patronize me."

"I wasn't trying to." A pause. Then, "besides, I want to be able to piss you off some more without the crippling fear that you're 2 seconds away from shooting my balls off."

She rolled her eyes, but she was laughing despite herself.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

That evening, Kael worked late at the table, studying maps, marking escape routes. Seraphina watched, considering leaving him alone, but curiosity got the better of her.

"Don't you ever sleep?" she asked, leaning on the doorframe.

He didn't look up. "Sleep is inefficient when you're preparing for survival."

She smirked. "Inefficient, really? You do realize sleep is a basic human necessity for said survival, right?"

A faint laugh escaped him. "Maybe." He flicked a pencil across the table absentmindedly, watching it roll. "But mostly, it's planning."

She leaned closer, noticing how tense his shoulders were, how tight his jaw looked when focused. In the dim lamplight, he looked... human. Vulnerable, even. It made her chest tighten.

"Kael," she said softly, "you ever get... tired?"

He finally looked at her, one eyebrow lifted. "Exhaustion is a luxury. I deal with it when it comes."

"You're stubborn," she said quietly, and in the brief pause, he didn't contradict her. He simply returned to his maps.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A week passed like this- small routines, minor disasters, teasing fights, and silent observations. There were arguments too. One night, she accused him of being controlling when he insisted the weapons needed to be reorganized "again." He called her reckless. Their voices raised, then dropped, then raised again.

They went to a local grocery store once, under their aliases. They argued about which brand of cereal to buy in whispered, exaggerated hisses, drawing a few stares from other shoppers.

"Raisin Bran is healthier," Seraphina hissed.

"Yeah, but Kellogg's is ten times tastier."

"Our overall health is more important than your taste buds."

"Yeah, but-"

"You two look like a cute couple," an elderly woman behind them interrupted, beaming. "How long have you been together?"

Seraphina blinked. "We- uh- we're not-"

"Married for two years," Kael cut in smoothly, then looked down at her. "Every minute has been an absolute blessing."

The old woman chuckled. "Just two years in and already bickering like an old married couple. Bet you have trouble keeping this one away from the ladies, huh?"

She winked at Seraphina and shuffled off, leaving Kael grinning.

"Two years married? Really?" Seraphina hissed.

He shrugged. "Sounded like a solid alibi." He said pushing the cart forward.

When she looked down, she realized... he'd picked Raisin Bran after all.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

That night, Seraphina found herself on the sofa, staring at the flickering lamplight while Kael reviewed his maps again. For reasons she didn't want to analyze, she sat beside him. Close enough that their knees brushed.

He didn't move away.

"You ever think about what's next?" she asked suddenly.

His eyes flicked to her. "Next?"

"If you weren't... this." She gestured at him- at the knives, the guns, the assassin. "If you weren't always running, always killing."

For the first time, Kael seemed at a loss. He leaned back, head tipping against the sofa, his features briefly unguarded. "I don't know. I've never thought that far ahead."

Her chest tightened. There it was again- that glimpse of the man behind the blade. The man who carried weight no one else could see. And against her better judgment, she felt something soften inside her.

She almost asked what if you weren't alone, but before she could, a sound outside snapped through the quiet. A scrape against the wall. A shadow moving past the boarded up window.

Kael's entire body shifted. She could tell when he'd switched from domestic husband to Assassin.

He was on his feet in a heartbeat, gun in hand, expression carved from steel.

"Phina," he said in a low, dangerous whisper, eyes locked on the door. "Stay down."

She crouched low and asked. "What is it?"

His jaw tightened. He didn't look at her as he loaded the gun with practiced ease.

"Morello's here," Kael said flatly. "He found us."