Town felt louder than I remembered.
Not chaotic — just alive. Traffic lights clicking through cycles, doors opening and closing, laughter overlapping in a way that didn’t ask permission. I walked a half step behind the group, hands in my jacket pockets, recalibrating to the noise, the movement, the simple fact of being back.
Serenya walked between Elyria and Isolde, Kaelith just behind her. She didn’t look lost. She didn’t look guarded either. Just present. That alone loosened something in my chest I hadn’t realized I’d been holding tight.
Jax was already waiting at a table set up in front of the salon.
“This,” he announced, gesturing vaguely at everything as we approached, “feels like what happens when you let a woman plan.”
Isolde didn’t bother turning around. “This,” she replied sw
