Seraphine's mouth had fallen open just a bit. The picture of her own life that she'd been carrying around for years was quietly rearranging itself in her head, and she wasn't sure yet what it would look like once everything finally settled into place.
"You were incredible out there, by the way," Voren started. "Smarter than almost everyone in your year group, same as me in business engineering, and I wasn't surprised at all."
"I had another plan for your graduation," Voren said, and something in his tone changed, a weight coming back into it.
"I thought four years away from the pack, away from Ravyn, that distance would have cleared your stupid obsession out of your system. I told myself that by the time you crossed that stage, you'd have moved on. That there'd finally be an opening for us again."
He stayed quiet for a beat. "I had the whole thing mapped out in my head."
Then his voice changed again. Careful now. Like he was picking out each word with extra thought.
