Leon stepped through the portal with Seraphine and Ira beside him, and the look on both their faces was the kind that didn't go away quickly. Deep, settled satisfaction — the specific peace of people who had spent the night exactly as they'd wanted and had no complaints about any of it.
It was morning. The City's ambient glow had shifted into its version of early light, soft and even across the high-ground temple.
A knock came at the door not long after.
Ira went to open it, still wearing that expression, still moving with the particular ease of someone whose body had been thoroughly looked after and knew it.
Loriel stood outside. Luna is beside her.
Loriel took one look at Ira's face and understood immediately, her eyes narrowing slightly as the picture assembled itself without needing explanation. She chose not to say anything. Some things were better left as private conclusions.
Luna's reaction was different — and it had actually started the previous night.
