Selene's POV
Victor was quiet for a long moment. Long enough that I started to regret asking. Long enough that I could hear my own heartbeat.
Then he said, "Is there something you want to tell me, Selene?"
"No," I blurted. "I was just asking. Hypothetically."
He didn't respond right away. His hand stayed still in my hair, neither pulling away nor continuing. Just resting there, heavy and warm, while he thought about something I couldn't see.
"Hypothetically," he repeated.
"Yes."
"Then hypothetically, it would depend on why they kept it. Fear is different from deception. Protecting someone is different from manipulating them." His voice was measured. "I would want to understand the reason before I decided anything."
I nodded against his chest and said nothing more.
I told myself i
