Kael's study felt different the second time I walked into it.
Maybe because this time I wasn't running from anything, or maybe because Draven's hand was still wrapped around mine and I could feel the certainty radiating off him like heat. Either way, when Kael looked up from the papers spread across his desk and his gaze locked on our joined hands, the air in the room changed into something I couldn't name but felt in my chest anyway.
Riven was already there, leaning against the bookshelf with his arms crossed and that patient quality he wore like armor, and when his eyes met mine through the open mind-link I'd forgotten to close again, I felt his satisfaction bloom warm and steady before I could wall it back out.
Thorne stood by the window, backlit by the sunset bleeding through the glass, and he turned when we entered with that amber gaze that always seemed to see straight through whatever walls I thought I'd built.
Four of them in one room.
