The doors shut behind them, and Selindra spun on him immediately. "What the hell was that?"
Lucen blinked. "What part? My stunning smile? My charming wit?"
"You shouldn't have said fourty."
He tilted his head. "You wanted me to lie?"
"That would've been smarter."
Varik kept walking. "Enough."
Selindra's eyes narrowed, but she fell back into step.
Lucen smirked to himself. 'Not lying was smarter. Watching her squirm about it is way more fun.'
—
The FHA office windows rattled first.
Lucen noticed it before the others, half a second of vibration through the soles of his boots, like the whole building had been nudged by something vast. He leaned back in the hallway chair outside Elira's office, balancing on two legs, watching Selindra frown toward the glass.
Then the alarms hit.
