HEART OF GOLD | CORIOLANUS SNOW

Silence is Gold

PROLOGUE

When she was kissing him—when he was kissing her—Lilith felt a lot of things, but she did not feel cold. The moment she broke away, however, the night's chill seemed to swathe her like a blanket, which was rather ironic, and despite his arms around her, she shivered.

"Let me get you somewhere warm," he said, but she practically clung to him, shaking her head.

"I don't want to go."

Everything had been perfect so far, right here, at this very spot. Who knew what would happen if they left?

This was real. He was real. If anything happened, it would be too real, and just like him, she was not prepared.

"And I don't want you to freeze." His embrace tightened around her, pressing her heart still closer to his. He seemed to be waiting for a response, and when she supplied none, he said, "I know I'm hot, but I'm not that hot."

Lilith was tempted to giggle, but then, more quietly, perhaps not intended for her ears, he murmured, "Not anymore, anyway."

"Trust me," she said, pulling back and gazing earnestly into his eyes as she cupped his injury, "you still are."

His smile was careful so that it wouldn't hurt. Then he grasped her hand.

"C'mon. It's not far, I promise."

It wasn't the kind of pitch black darkness that Lilith was frightened of, where you couldn't even see your hand when right in front of your eyes, but the ill-lit environment should still have required caution. His footsteps, however, were sure as he escorted her through the gloomy garden, until they came to a glass structure that had to be a greenhouse.

Unlike the one at the botanical gardens, this interior was pleasant, and like the rest of the roof, it smelled just like him. With the tug of a cord, a sparse network of strung up incandescent bulbs came to life, suffusing the area with warm yellow light that lent the scene an ethereal, almost romantic quality.

On the stone bench he'd seated her on, their arms around each other and their hands in each other's, everything felt even more perfect than before. Until they were kissing again, and his fingers were in her chestnut mane, and hers were in his golden curls, and this was the ultimate perfection.

When their lips parted, he leaned their foreheads together, his hand still buried in her tresses.

"I miss your hair," he whispered.

For a while, Lilith hadn't had the urge to cry, and she struggled to keep her tears in check.

"Me, too," she squeaked.

"Will you tell me everything?"

"What do you mean?"

The way he studied her then, like he had trouble recognizing her, cracked her heart a little.

"Do you know how painfully low profile you are?" His tone was subdued and his eyes tentative. "Once you stopped using social media, it's like you dropped off the face of this earth. Not knowing what was going on in your life, it drove me crazy."

"Why didn't you ask Tigris?"

"She's not exactly speaking to me, not least about you. She thinks..." Although he averted his eyes, his Adam's apple still bobbed prominently. "She thinks I'm not good enough for you."

All this insecurity and self-doubt was so uncharacteristic, so wrong on him, Lilith felt like it was shifting her entire world. Desperate to make it right, she angled his face to hers, gingerly, as it was the bruised side.

"That's not true. It can never be true."

Hesitant at first, his expression gradually melted with gratitude—and affection. When he kissed her this time, it was with all the urgency of someone who was afraid that there was no time left, that time would not wait for him. Lilith ached at this thought, but she found that she was rather enjoying herself at the moment.

"You are so kind, Lilith," he rasped on her lips. "What have I done to deserve you?"

"You drank tea," she said evenly, and it did it.

For a moment, all his misery evaporated, and he laughed—it was such a musical sound. As the effects of her distraction dissipated, however, he gave an infinitesimal wince. Now that she thought about it, he must have sat to her left deliberately to hide the damage from her. Impulsively, Lilith bent forward and gently pecked him on his bruised jaw. He shuddered, and his breath came out ragged.

"Do I have to keep drinking tea for you to do that?" he asked, only half joking, his eyes shining with something more like desire.

She kissed him on the exact same spot. "Honeysuckle's better than peach, I promise."

Later, when the prospect of reality loomed even through his lips moving hungrily on hers, Lilith asked, "Do you really think so?"

"What?"

A thrill rushed through her at the huskiness of his voice.

"That we're meant to be."

Finally pausing, he smiled with his right side. "I know it."

"I hope you're right."

"Good," he mumbled on her. "Hope's always the only thing stronger than fear."

Always, and forever.

AN: I've released SILENCE IS GOLD as a separate book on Wattpad. Please add it to your libraries and reading lists and turn on notifications so that you'll know when I finally update 🫠 meanwhile, check out WINDFALL (Tom Blyth Story), which will start on 22/3/25!

PS: Any interest in a Lilith x Coryo AU? Same characters, still Panem, but completely different (non-canon) circumstances. Comment below and I'll decide if/when I want to release the teaser & blurb 🫶🏻