Seraphiel's eyes widened. She wasn't alone. They struggled to realize the implications of that news for a bit… Meeting the first elf and the primordial human Mearie? It sounded like a bad prank, but one look at Quinlan's confident eyes told them he wasn't spinning a joke right now.
For the next hour or so, the courtyard buzzed with warmth and chatter, the kind only a tightly knit family could produce.
With the introductions wrapped up and Feng and Serika officially welcomed into the fold, the group relaxed in a way that hadn't been possible in quite a while. Old bonds were reaffirmed. New ones were forged. Laughter, teases, and affectionate jabs were exchanged freely.
It was the kind of gathering Jasmine would have loved to be part of—and would be, one day soon.
But then a shift in the atmosphere occurred.
