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“No worries. I totally get it. I felt that Vorzyr is okay now. Ariana managed to calm him down?”

“Yeah. She sent me a text. He’s stabilized.”

“Good. Really good.” I looked out at him as he gazed around at everything. “How does it feel being here?” He’d wanted to be a part of the Guardian Movement for a long time. He’d been up here a couple of times with his parents, but just as the next heir to the Maven Coven, never in a broader capacity, or in a way that had given him the opportunity to actually tour the place or see the broader scope. I mean, sure, he had his research, so I had no doubt that he already knew all about it. But being here in person was different.

“Fine,” was all he said.

I cocked an eyebrow. “Just fine?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Honestly, yeah.”

“Wow, after all these years of you coveting a role here.”

“A lot has happened lately. It’s… shifted things, it seems. I hadn’t really had time to take stock of that until now.”

“Until being here.”

“Essentially.”

I went to speak more to it, but my words caught in my throat as I felt a wave of anxiety slam into me.

Oddly, it wasn’t mine.

And then I looked out to see Velra turning onto the corridor with Lazriel walking beside her.

“That was phenomenal,” he was telling her.

“Thanks,” was all she said.

Kai and I exchanged a wince at the uncomfortable tension coming off Velra, something that Lazriel was just blowing right through with his determination to reach her, to connect with her.

An awkward silence settled for a few moments, before Lazriel cut through it, asking her, “Hey, so what did you think ofmypresentation? Revamping the Academy curriculums all over the place to include specific hybrid-focused classes?”

“Yes. It was an inspired idea also.”

“Did you just actually give me a compliment, beautiful?”

“You were fishing for one, so I took pity on you.”

“Ouch. So it wasn’t real?”

“I’ll leave that for you to decide.”

“What about his hot little banter between us? Is that real enough for you?”

She came to an abrupt halt. “You shouldn’t pursue this.”

“And here I was working up to asking you out for a drink atPolaris.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not? You’re out there holed up on your own in one of the Guardian Movement provided safehouses. You don’t attend an Academy or anything. I do and I have a night class to get to butI’mwilling to miss it so we can spend some time together.”

Another sigh made me wince, because this time it was a lot heavier.

In fact, I’d noticed a shift in her mood as soon as the presentation had finished.

A definite downturn.