For a heartbeat, no one spoke.
Then the room reacted like a living thing finally exhaling.
Silver broke first, her anger no longer sharp but raw. "You don't get to drop something like that and just..." she gestured vaguely, fingers trembling, "...stand there like it's a weather report. What are you planning, Ethan?"
Christopher leaned forward, elbows on his knees, dark glasses reflecting Ethan's silhouette. "You said whatever you're about to do," he said calmly. Too calmly. "That phrasing usually precedes catastrophe."
Around them, the ripple spread.
Regnare straightened, instinctively alert, hand hovering near a weapon that wasn't physically there. Delphina narrowed her eyes, calculating angles that didn't exist in three-dimensional space. Harley's grip tightened around Selene and Sol, maternal instinct flaring hard enough to warp the air around her.
