OPERATION WINTERSPINE (Strings Between Us Book 2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: OF MIDNIGHT GHOSTS, SUMMER BOYS, AND THE

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: OF MIDNIGHT GHOSTS, SUMMER BOYS, AND THE GIRL WHO JUST WANTED PEACE

Riyee's POV

After the Ardent Court meeting, all I wanted was to collapse and maybe scream into my pillow for five business days.

Too many voices. Too many eyes. Too much pressure. My head still pulsed with the sound of Lyle's command voice and the weight of every what-if no one dared speak aloud.

I was tired of being a war piece in someone else's strategy board.

So when I finally reached my dorm room—quiet, finally mine—I was ready to crash. Kick off the boots. Wash off the blood of memory and mission. Pretend I was just a girl again.

Then I opened the door.

And nearly had a heart attack.

"KHAIZER FREAKING DYLAN!"

He was sprawled across my bed like some smug, six-foot crime against personal space. Limbs everywhere. Pillow hostage situation in progress.

I blinked.

He waved.

"Hello to you too, girlfriend," he said like this was normal. Like he was normal.

"What—how—why are you in my room again?" My voice shot up an octave. "Did you jump from the rooftop, again?"

"Yup." He stretched, looking painfully pleased with himself. "Balcony door was unlocked. Thought it was an invitation."

I looked at him. Really looked at him.

Tousled hair. That half-asleep smirk. One arm slung behind his head like he hadn't just broken every dorm rule in the handbook. Like he belonged here.

And the worst part?

Some traitorous, completely irresponsible part of me liked that he did.

I groaned. "You're going to break your neck one of these nights."

"You worry about me," he said, all sing-song.

"I worry about the paperwork if your spine shatters on my balcony."

"Liar." He patted the bed beside him. "Come on. Let's cuddle. I didn't get to see you the whole day."

God help me.

I should have said no. I should have kicked him out, locked the window, and filed a complaint to the discipline office.

Instead, my traitor limbs moved before my brain could protest. I slipped onto the bed beside him and let him pull me in like gravity had opinions.

"I missed you, love," KD whispered into my hair.

And I hated how much I missed him too.

Not just missed him-needed him. This quiet version of him. Warm and boyish and a little too good at undoing every wall I rebuilt after Celestine.

I hugged him back, fiercely. Then muttered, "It's your fault. You declared a medical arrest. Suffer in missing me."

I was stuck in their hospital for three more days after the 'supposedly my discharge day' because he said I wasn't being sarcastic so I needed more medical attention.

He laughed under his breath. "Guess that means you're feeling fine again."

Liar. I wasn't fine. I hadn't been fine since the chandelier. Since the mission briefings. Since I saw Xythe bleeding again, and heard my mother and father's name echo through a war room.