CHAPTER 199: CHAPTER-199

Kaya scanned the darkness, her gun steady, finger hovering over the trigger.

Suddenly, a shadow flickered right in front of her.

Her body reacted before her brain caught up, barrel snapping toward it, finger tightening on the trigger. One more breath and she would have fired—

—and then she caught it.

A scent. Warm, rich... sandalwood.

It hit her like a memory, halting her shot. She knew that smell. She’d been catching it on him since morning, faint on the breeze, lingering on her skin after he passed.

The figure stepped out from the dark. Leaves clung to his hair, his jacket, even his shoulders, as if he’d rolled his way through the forest floor.

Damn it, Kaya thought, exhaling hard. He’s going to get himself killed one day.

She lowered the gun and pressed a hand to her forehead. Her voice was low, sharp, and laced with irritation. "Are you crazy?"

A quick glance over her shoulder—no one else nearby. She leaned closer. "You almost went to meet your God just now."

Veer’s eyes widened in disbelief. "Excuse me? I came here because I thought you might be scared. And what the hell are you talking about, huh?"

He turned toward the cave just ahead, the faint outline barely visible behind a curtain of vines.

Kaya’s mind was still racing. One more second. If I hadn’t caught that scent... Maybe he’d picked it up while flying through the woods, but sandalwood had stuck to him all day. She’d memorized it without meaning to.

Thank God she had.

They both stared at the cave. Veer broke the silence. "Let me go first. You follow behind."

Kaya smirked faintly. Why walk into the tiger’s den yourself when you can send someone else to poke it?

And just like that, Veer became her so-called bait.

He moved forward slowly, slipping into the shadows, while Kaya followed close, her gun steady, every step echoing softly on the forest floor.

As they pushed aside the heavy curtain of vines and stepped inside, darkness swallowed them whole.

Kaya blinked—once, twice, three times—but it was useless. The blackness was so absolute it felt like it pressed against her eyes, refusing to let her see even the faintest outline.

Then, without warning—fwoosh!

Flames bloomed into existence right in front of her, the sudden light dancing across the cave walls like living things.

Kaya’s head snapped toward the source.

Veer stood there, casual as anything, holding fire in his bare hand.

Her eyes went from the flames... to Veer... back to the flames... and then locked on him again.

She forced her face into a tight, almost polite smile, though her jaw twitched with restrained fury. "Veer..."

"Yes?" he said innocently.

"How," she began slowly, "does this fire suddenly appear?"

Veer gave her a look, like are you seriously asking me this? "Of course I made it."

Kaya stared at him. "Right. And... how long have you known how to make fire?"

His smile widened. "Since the day I learned to fly."

Snap. Something inside Kaya’s patience broke clean in two.

She grabbed him by the collar, yanking him closer, her voice dropping to a deadly whisper. "Are. You. Out. Of. Your. Mind?"

Her teeth clenched as she hissed, "If you could make fire this whole time, why in God’s name didn’t you use it until now?"

Hearing that, Veer actually looked at her—really looked at her—and then shrugged.

"Because I thought you liked darkness, that’s why."

Kaya’s eyes narrowed, and without a word, she yanked him by the collar again, pulling his face dangerously close.

"Who the hell likes darkness, you idiot?" she growled through gritted teeth.

Veer turned his head slightly to the side, utterly unbothered.

"Well... I thought you do," he replied, as if that made perfect sense.

Kaya was left staring at him, dumbfounded. Words completely abandoned her. At this point, she wasn’t sure whether to laugh, scream, or just wring this bird’s neck and end the misery once and for all.

Meanwhile, Veer muttered under his breath,

"Of course... with how romantic the situation is, how can I just light a fire?"

Kaya, hearing the muttering, turned sharply toward him.

"What?" Her voice carried a clear edge of anger.

Veer simply pointed ahead.

"We need to go inside, right?"

Kaya exhaled through her nose, huffing in annoyance before turning back around and stepping into the cave.

They walked for barely five or seven seconds when the narrow, shadowed tunnel suddenly opened up—and Kaya stopped dead in her tracks.

It wasn’t the cave she expected. Not even close.

This... was something else entirely.

The place rose into a wide, two-story space. Not a natural formation, but a full structure built right into the stone, as though someone had carved out the rock and turned it into a home. The open area before her was organized—too organized.

And not in the way she’d seen in other beatmen dwellings. This wasn’t crude or haphazard. This looked like someone had dragged the idea of a modern home into the past and forced it to fit.

Right in the center sat four wooden chairs circling a small table, almost like a polite seating area for guests. To one side was a closed-off room. On the other, a wooden rack stood against the wall, stocked with utensils that looked ready to use, as though someone had cooked here not long ago.

Her gaze moved further in. A large wooden dining table stretched out, surrounded by ten chairs neatly arranged around it. Then she glanced up—stairs, solidly built from wood, led to the second floor, where a railing ran the perimeter to keep anyone from falling over the edge.

Kaya slowly turned in a circle, taking it all in.

"What the hell..." she whispered under her breath.

When she glanced at Veer, expecting him to be wide-eyed or at least mildly impressed, he was just... normal. No raised brows, no widened eyes—nothing. That alone made her pause.

She turned fully toward him, frowning.

"Aren’t you even surprised by this structure?"

Veer gave her a look, the kind reserved for someone who’d just asked if the sky was blue.

"Why?"