It didn't show in her face, the flinch. But she felt it in her body. She felt it in the way her stomach dropped. She felt it in the way that the blood in her veins, right now, some of it Lindsey's blood, slowed down to a crawl. Phaedra felt cold.
Both of them knew it'd be easier if she did it. He wouldn't even be joking about it if Lindsey didn't get that. Whatever was after him would also come after her if she declined, and so would Phaedra's firm.
I love you.
She honestly half expected him not to say it out loud. Not to admit it. That didn't make much sense based on the type of person Lindsey was. It was more that Phaedra didn't really think anyone could love her. Not that way, at least.
Her mouth opened, the assassin's exterior dropping, eyebrows drawing together. It somehow didn't matter that she already knew, that Thomas had given her hard proof.
And it scares me half to death.
"It should."
It wasn't a threat. It was almost a whisper. And it shook with emotion.
She looked him over, this human standing there, with his arms up in supplication, with blood pooling under his skin from her slap (she could hear it moving, settling). With her bite on his neck. With those eyes focused on her, pleading.
Phaedra shut her eyes for a moment. She was trying to ground herself, to feel her feet on the earth, the air moving around her. But the last time she'd done this, there'd been no heartbeat in the background, steady and strong, a metronome.
That was it. That was the exact point. He was part of the picture now.
She smiled very slightly, eyes still closed. "I love you, too."
Lindsey looked slightly red when she opened her eyes. Tears. They were threatening, starting to form.