The sun was shining bright and warm the day Kyle officially enrolled at Alpha Academy.
I crouched down to straighten his bow tie. "Nervous?"
"Nope."
He glanced over at Thorin, who was standing nearby, and tilted his head. "Uncle, if I get three As today, will you teach me how to shoot when I get home from school?"
Thorin nodded, then slapped palms with him in a solemn, deliberate pact to seal the deal.
Suddenly, the crowd at the academy entrance burst into a commotion. Lissa came barreling out of nowhere.
She wore no makeup, her eyes raw, red-rimmed, and wild with desperation. A short blade was clamped tight in her fist, pressed right up against her own neck. "Vesper! My kid got expelled from school. Happy now? You already have everything you could ever want! Why do you have to ruin
