Elias's expression hardened the moment Lirael stepped between us, the shift so immediate it felt like the air itself had turned cold.
I noticed it before I even fully registered her presence, the way his jaw set, the way his gaze sharpened into something unreadable, guarded. It was not anger alone, but something far more controlled, far more intense, and that alone told me enough.
I turned my attention away from him and toward her.
Lirael stood there as though nothing at all had changed, as though she had not just stepped into the middle of something important. She was smiling, calm and composed, her presence as unsettling as it was graceful. Then her gaze drifted past me, toward the bed where Kaiden still stood, his hand wrapped tightly around Astria's, his entire being fixed on her as though the rest of us had ceased to exist.
A softer expression crossed Lirael's face as she watched them.
