She stared at him, then sighed softly, her eyes dragging up and down his frame.
His Grimmaw uniform, the same one he'd worn out earlier that day, was in tatters.
The cloth was charred in uneven patches, frayed and blackened as though he'd walked through fire.
A faint, acrid smell clung to him, and Vanessa instinctively brought a hand to her nose.
"You should have told me you were going to space," she said dryly.
Lucius blinked, caught off guard. "How did you know…?"
"Get inside first." Her voice was sharp, though the slight huff she gave afterward betrayed her relief.
She stepped aside, and he obeyed, striding into the mansion.
The familiar warmth of the living room greeted him.
Plush chairs, the soft hum of a heater, and a large flat-screen mounted on the wall gave it a comfortable modernity that contrasted jarringly with the vast silence of space he had just left.
On the couch, Emilia sat with her legs folded up, fiddling with the remote.
