Some eager underlings from the VIPs' entourages swarmed over, trying to butter Thorne up and get familiar.
After all, he'd arrived with Ms. Veyra. Even as her subordinate, befriending him might open doors to the Veyra family's inner circle.
But Thorne had no patience for idle chatter. Hopeless at social niceties, he soon had everyone thinking he was about as exciting as watching paint dry, leaving him blissfully alone.
Exactly how he preferred it. He was just Lirael's plus-one, with zero interest in rubbing elbows with these movers and shakers.
Their conversations kept beating around the bush, every connection a calculated business move. That wasn't friendship—just transactional networking.
Thorne wanted nothing to do with their games. Why bother with fair-weather friends when he wasn
