Page 107 of Phantom Flower

Oops.

In my defense, I did try the money route first. I even gave him a chance to reconsider. But when he sneered at me and told me to fuck off, I stopped being polite. I put a bullet between his eyes, then another in his chest for good measure. His security tried to intervene. They did not last long either. I found the Comet Orchid in a temperature-controlled case. It was beautiful and delicate, exactly as Rei had described it.

But I was not going to give him the Comet Orchid yet.

Instead, every single morning I brought him a different flower.

Every day I woke up early, slipped out while he was still sleeping, and hunted through the city gardens, private greenhouses, or anywhere else I could find something worthy. Bringing him a flower from a shop was too simple. He did not like those a lot. He preferred the wild ones or the ones picked freshly. So obviously I climbed every motherfucking fence near the hospital so I would not be gone for too long and brought him one.

And every single time, he smiled.

He would reach up to touch the petals and whisper “Thank you” like I had given him the entire world instead of just one small bloom.

It was the best part of my day.

Rei could walk now.

Not perfectly. He still limped. He still needed support for longer distances, and the physical therapists pushed him hard every session. But he could stand. He could take steps. He could move around the room without help if he was careful. The doctors said he did not need to stay in the hospital much longer. A few more days of observation and he could be discharged.

I could not wait to take him home.

I missed him in my bed. I missed waking up with him curled against my chest.

Kento had been showing up more often. Almost every day now. He would sit by Rei’s bed. It was strange seeing him like that. The cold, distant brother who had always kept Rei at arm’s length suddenly showing up like he was afraid to lose him. I did not trust it completely, but I let it happen. For Rei. And also because for some reason whenever I wanted to chase Kento away, Ilya looked at me as if he was going to plunge one of his knives into my fucking eye.

Marco, though, was weirdly absent.

He did show up, but not as often as before. And when he did, he looked dead on his feet. Something was wrong with that kid. Very fucking wrong. The moment he stepped into Rei’s room, though, he flipped a switch. He would light up, voice bright and sweet, laughing at Rei’s jokes and fussing over him like nothing was wrong. I could see through it. Rei probably could too. But we both let him pretend.

In the meantime, Ilya and Alexei were handling all my shit.

They took over every meeting, every order, every problem my father tried to dump on me. I had no time for any of it. My focus was entirely on Rei. On making sure he ate, on sitting through every therapy session with him, on holding him when the pain got bad at night. My father’s commands could wait. The empire could wait. Everything could wait.

Right now, my fairy was the only thing that mattered.

This morning I brought him a soft pink peony.

It was not the Comet Orchid, but it was delicate and beautiful. I clipped it carefully into his hair while he was still blinking sleepily against the pillow.

Rei’s eyes fluttered open, and the moment he felt the flower, that small, sleepy smile spread across his face.

“Morning,” he whispered.

“Morning, little fairy,” I murmured, leaning down to kiss his forehead. “Pink today. Thought it suited you.”

He reached up to touch the petals, cheeks warming slightly.

“It’s beautiful,” he said softly. “You always find the prettiest ones.”

I sat on the edge of the bed and brushed my thumb over his cheek.

“You’re prettier,” I told him.

Rei rolled his eyes, but the smile stayed. He leaned into my touch, letting me cradle his face for a moment.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “For doing this every day. You do not have to.”

“I want to,” I said simply.