Realize

Chadstone watched her and waited. it wouldn't matter if she passed judgment on him or his feelings - if he could even have feelings. He'd watched the myriad of emotions cross her face and tried to ignore them, failed, but he had one thing left, and he refused to relinquish it too.

Dakshana looked away from him, stared at her hands. He could be patient for prey, lethally so, and he hadn't moved an iota when she finally looked up.

"Years?" she asked, wary. "How many --"

"You were five or six. Playing a game. Running."

And realization dawned in her eyes.