SERAPHINA'S POV
Corin’s words fractured the room.
Kieran went very still beside me. The kind of stillness that came before a blade was drawn.
“To protect her,” he echoed, each word sharp.
Corin didn’t waver. “Yes.”
“You think she needs you?” Kieran asked, voice trembling.
Corin’s expression was soft when he looked at me, then hardened to steel when he looked back at Kieran. “I think she needs more than one layer of defense.”
I held back an exasperated sigh. This was not how I had imagined this conversation unfolding.
If Corin had remained as a representative, he could have been managed as an ally.
But by positioning himself as a protector, he implied we were vulnerable. That Kieran wasn’t enough.
And that struck at something primal inside him.
Kieran took
