The courtyard felt different now.
Team Soup sat together at their usual table for the first time in days. The sun was warm overhead. Renna had a big plate of pastries in front of her. Emric had actually reopened his textbook and was reading it this time. Lyra sat close enough to Holden that their shoulders almost touched.
But Holden's mind was somewhere else.
He leaned back in his chair and looked at his friends. Really looked at them. Renna was Rank 1, 7-Star. Emric was Rank 1, 6-Star. Lyra was Rank 1, 8-Star. Solid for freshmen. Impressive, even.
But not enough.
The enemies he was making weren't freshmen anymore. He was making enemies out of royal families, secret criminal groups, and gangs for hire. The Iron Fangs might be scared of Asura, but Draven was still out there, still scheming, still connected to people with real power. House Thorne would want revenge for Oscar. And Vespera's secret missions were only going to get harder.
