Ravyn's reaction caught Voren off guard, putting him squarely on the spot, but the moment his eyes flicked toward Seraphine and he caught that faint, knowing smile curving her lips, everything clicked into place with brutal clarity.
She was not here just for the money or the leverage or even the satisfaction of watching him squirm. No, she was deliberately tearing at the seams of his friendship with Ravyn, pulling it apart thread by thread with a patience that made it even more dangerous.
Divide and rule, that was her strategy, and Voren could not deny the bitter lesson she had just carved into him with surgical precision.
From this moment on, he would never underestimate a woman again, never mistake softness for weakness, and never assume that a fragile appearance meant a fragile will.
