After returning from Loot and getting into bed, Paedyn hears raw, anguished screams in the night. Recognizing the voice as Kai’s, she leaves her room and follows the sound to his chamber despite knowing it is a bad idea. She finds Kai trapped in a nightmare, feverish and thrashing, and climbs onto the bed to shake him awake because his cries make her realize how much she fears seeing him hurt.

Kai wakes in panic and immediately overpowers Paedyn, pinning her beneath him with a dagger at her throat. Paedyn stays calm, repeats her name, and slowly brings him back to awareness until he understands who she is and pulls the blade away. When he sees that he has nicked her neck, Kai is horrified by what he almost did, and Paedyn sees him without his usual mask: shaken, ashamed, and deeply vulnerable.

Refusing to let Kai retreat behind silence, Paedyn touches his face and tells him not to hide from her anymore. Their usual banter returns only lightly as Kai gently wipes the blood from her neck and brushes back her hair. The moment remains intimate and unguarded, and both become acutely aware that this closeness is different from the accidental proximity they have shared before.

When Paedyn starts to leave, Kai catches her wrist and asks her to stay, then pleads when she hesitates. Paedyn understands that he expects people to leave him, and instead of answering aloud, she chooses him by climbing under the covers beside him. Kai takes the invitation immediately, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her against him, while Paedyn realizes this comfort is mutual and intentional.

Lying together, they share a quiet exchange that confirms how much their bond has deepened. Kai thanks Paedyn sincerely, studies her face, and tells her to sleep; when Paedyn asks if he will sleep too, he answers flirtatiously that he is already dreaming. As Paedyn drifts off feeling safer than she has in years, Kai braids her hair in the dark, turning the night from one of terror into one of chosen trust and tenderness.