Tobin barked a laugh. "Your friend. Right. And I'm the Primordial Villain." He gave Lucille a wink. "Sister, maybe. What's your name, gorgeous?"
Lucille set her teacup down on its saucer without a sound.
"I'd suggest you remove your hand from her," she said pleasantly.
"Or what?" And to the great misfortune of everyone who shared his blood, Tobin's hand stayed exactly where it was, and his grin came back around to Mavena. "She always this..."
Lucille moved.
Mavena would spend a long time afterwards trying to reconstruct the order of it.
Her mother's hand closed over the wrist on her shoulder. Then the wrist was no longer on her shoulder, and Tobin was bent over the table, cheek pressed to the wood, arm folded up behind his back at an angle arms were not issued with. None of it had made any noise except the soft clink of the sugar bowl.
"GH... AGH! LET, agh, LET GO..."
