Nyx
The silence that followed was magnificent.
Absolutely magnificent.
Even the wind seemed to stop blowing entirely, as if the world itself had decided to hold its breath in stunned anticipation.
The birds in the nearby trees disappeared into the foliage. The distant sounds of the estate faded away.
For one glorious, frozen second, nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Nobody even seemed willing to breathe.
Kaden simply stood there looking completely serious, as though he had asked the most reasonable, logical question in existence. As though he hadn't just casually thrown a live grenade into the middle of an already volatile social interaction and then calmly walked away from the impending explosion.
Then Theo broke.
Completely.
He doubled over laughing.
Loudly.
Violently.
The kind of unrestrained laughter that made standing upright physically impossible. The kind that left a person fighting desperately for oxygen while tears gathered at the corners of his eyes.
