Chapter 22 Kristen
I brought the lower bedsheets up to my fast as fast as I could.
The sheet was bunched beneath my thighs, cool against skin that still burned. I barely had time to yank it up to my knees before the door creaked open. My heart slammed so hard I thought I might throw up. Patricia stepped inside like she had all the time in the world, her hand still loosely gripping the doorknob behind her.
“Everything okay in here?”
My breath came tight. I sat rigid, the sheet clenched in my fists. The vibrator was hidden. The panties—God, the panties—were on the bed, practically waving at her from where I’d tossed them. I forced a smile, shaky and thin.
“Yeah. Just…” I paused, frantically combing my brain. “Just thinking about what my seal might be.”
She didn’t seem suspicious. Her eyebrows lifted in a kind of thoughtful acknowledgment, and she let the door swing shut behind her. I watched her every move, fighting to keep my voice steady while I shifted on the mattress—slowly, subtly—until my leg obscured the underwear from her line of sight.
Patricia walked closer and sat at the edge of the bed like she belonged there. The mattress dipped beneath her. She was calm, completely at ease. Meanwhile, my entire body felt like it was still trembling with the aftershocks of everything I hadn’t quite finished.
“I don’t blame you,” she said. “Everyone’s freaking out about the tests. It’s weird not knowing what you are.”
I nodded, grateful for the direction. “Yeah.”
“You’ve got nothing to worry about, though.” She kicked off her shoes and drew one leg up under herself, casual. “You’re way too sharp to be a Capron.”
The words struck something deep, but I couldn’t let myself react. I just tightened the sheet around my chest. I couldn’t even remember if I’d managed to put my bra back on.
“You think?”
“Come on. Caprons can’t do half of what you’ve done without even trying. You are a fighter, Kristen and you held your own over the years. If I had to guess?” She tilted her head, studying me with an amused smile. “Ares. Middle of the pack. Intuitive. Quick on your feet.”
Middle of the pack. I didn’t know how I felt about that. It wasn’t nothing, but it wasn’t… whatever Leo was, either. I swallowed and nodded like it didn’t matter. All I could think about was the bright scrap of cotton hidden under my leg and how one wrong shift would expose it all.
“Thanks,” I said, voice smaller than I wanted.
Patricia didn’t seem to notice. She let her gaze drift to the ceiling. “You ever hear the rumor about the fourth seal?”
My brain jolted. “The what?”
“Fourth seal.” She said it like it was nothing, like it was casual gossip and not a spark tossed into a puddle of gasoline. “Everyone talks about the big three, right? Leo, Ares, Capron. But… supposedly, there’s a fourth.”
I stared. “I thought the others were just theory to begin with. The classification stuff. It’s not even written in the official materials.”
She laughed. “Exactly. And that’s why this one’s more like a ghost story. It’s called the Kyro.”
The word felt sharp in my ears. Cold. It didn’t sound made up. It sounded old.
“No one really knows where the rumor started,” she continued, plucking at a loose thread on her sleeve. “But supposedly, the Kyro is something beyond the others. Not just stronger. Not just rarer. Like—if a Leo is lightning, the Kyro is the whole damn storm system.”
I felt my eyebrows rise. “And no one’s ever had it?”
“Not officially. Not that anyone admits. Some people think it’s impossible. Too powerful to exist without… you know. Catastrophe.”
She glanced over at me, and for a second, her smile dimmed.
“They say a Kyro would be like a million Leos in one,” she added, trying to laugh it off. “Too unstable. The kind of thing you kill in the cradle before it can turn into a weapon.”
“Sounds comforting,” I said, half joking.
But she was already shaking her head. “It’s just a myth. Something whispered between juniors at the academy after lights out. There’s no proof. No one even talks about it in public.”
I leaned back against the headboard, trying to pretend I wasn’t suddenly awake in a whole new way.
“So what’s the deal then? Why hide it at all?”
“Same reason people bury all dangerous things.” Patricia stood, brushing imaginary lint from her skirt. “It scares them.”
I watched her move toward the door, heartbeat a slow thud against my ribs. She tossed her hair over one shoulder and glanced back at me.
“You’re probably an Ares. That’s the safest bet. Strong, but manageable. Nothing to lose sleep over.”
I gave another half-smile, but inside, my thoughts were roaring.
“Testing will sort it out,” she added, hand on the doorknob now. “Until then, don’t stress too much. Come down when you’re ready. Dinner’s almost done.”
“Okay,” I said, voice dry. “Thanks.”
The door closed behind her with a soft click.
I exhaled like I’d been holding my breath for a year.
First thing I did was snatch my panties and shove them under the pillow. Then I collapsed back, hand over my face, willing my pulse to settle. Somehow, by some miracle, I hadn’t been caught. Or maybe I had and Patricia had decided to be gracious. Either way, the danger had passed.
On the surface.
But my mind wouldn’t calm.
Kyro.
Why hadn’t anyone mentioned it before? Even in the subtext of lectures, even in whispers between roommates—nothing. And Patricia had said it so casually, like it was just another campfire tale. A secret hidden in plain sight. It didn’t feel fake. It didn’t feel like a rumor.
It felt forbidden.
And that made it worse.
Because the kind of things people don’t talk about? The things that get buried deep? They’re always the ones that matter the most.
I turned onto my side and stared at the far wall, vision unfocused.
A million Leos in one.
What would that even look like?
Someone with fire at their fingertips. Someone who could shatter you with a kiss. Someone who didn’t follow the rules because the rules bent for them.
Someone dangerous.
The sheets felt too hot again. I pushed them down, letting the air touch my still-sensitive skin. My thighs rubbed together, and the friction lit a spark I’d just started to forget.
But I didn’t reach for the vibrator again. Not yet.
My thoughts were spinning too fast.
Leo had said I was like him. Not exactly. Not out loud. But he looked at me like I was. He touched me like he knew something I didn’t. Like he recognized it in me. That edge. That flicker. That heat.
What if I wasn’t Ares?
What if I wasn’t Capron?
What if I wasn’t anything on the record?
The thought thrilled me and terrified me at once. I curled tighter, pressing the pillow against my stomach. I didn’t know what it meant. I didn’t know what to do with it.
But one thing was suddenly, painfully clear.
If the Kyro existed… then someone must have it…
Someone out there would want to stop people from finding out.
And someone else?
They’d want to use the person.
The air in the room felt too thin. I rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling again. The cracks in the paint looked like branching paths, roads I couldn’t quite follow.
I needed answers.
I needed control.
And I needed to find out how to make myself an Ares if I could.
Somehow, only one person came to mind.
Again.
Would I ever be able to escape you, Leo Moretti?