Lily’s heart didn’t just skip—it plummeted.

She turned slowly, her breath caught in her throat.

Leo stood just behind her, a shadow with eyes that gleamed too much like satisfaction. He looked untouched by the firestorm that had passed between her and his mother, as though the confrontation had been a performance he knew was going to be recurrent.

“What surprise?” she managed to say, her voice smaller than she intended.

He didn’t answer.

Instead, he held out his hand.

Not a command.

Not quite a request either.

More like a challenge dressed in silence.

Lily didn’t move.

“Come,” he said softly, but there was steel beneath it.

Mrs. Kavinsky...