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Levent did not reply, and so I sat there in silence for as long as I could. Listening to the drone of the engine beneath us and the inconstant hum of Rio and Kewyn talking in the front cabin could only occupy me for so long. I sighed, hoping the kin had not fallen asleep.

“Listen,” I said, waiting for a response.

When there was not one, I reached over and pulled the dragon-kin’s hair out of his face. One of his amber eyes stared straight back at me with some annoyance. I jumped away and folded my hands in my lap before I spoke again.

“I’ll try my best not to see anything private,” I said as clearly as I could, though by the third syllable my tongue was tripping over itself. “I’ll control my magic as much as I can so that I only know about the wound, and if I do see anything I can guarantee that I will never speak of it and do my best to forget it immediately.”

“What if you can’t?” Levent muttered, lifting his face out of the pillow. He had a small, dark smirk on his face.

“What if I can?” I retorted lamely. “Listen, I know you like to keep your secrets. But, even if your deepest, darkest secret is hidden away at the point of that dart, I won’t see much – barely a glimpse. I’d rather gamble on saving that arm and see a glimpse than let you lose it.”

“Hmm,” Levent hummed. His eyelids fell a fraction.

I realized that there was only one thing left that I needed to confess before healing him. Blood rushed to my face. I took a deep breath as I said it in my head a few times, carefully moving my mind over the words. Then I finally I opened my mouth.

“I’vealreadyseenyourscars,” I burst. It had sounded much better in my head.

I shut my eyes to block out the kin’s widening eyes, and tried again. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t know how to say-“

“Stop,” he instructed.

Levent’s voice did not sound particularly angry beyond his usual growl. It was not like when he had yelled at Theteau, but I was still worried that I might have gone too far. I had to remind myself that it was not my fault that he had been walking around shirtless. My eyes snapped open to confront the face of death.

To my surprise, Levent was not looking at me at all. He had propped himself up on his elbow while I was having my little mental fit, and was now staring at the floor