BRIAR’S POV
“Tavian!” Eli exclaims elatedly, turning to face him with a wide smile and hands outstretched. “It’s so good to see you, dear cousin... you know, it’s been so long since we caught up. I really have missed talking with you. We used to be so close, like a week ago.”
He nervously pats the man’s shoulders.
Yet Tavian doesn’t buy it; the stoic expression on his face doesn’t falter.
He neither looks furious, surprised, nor amused. He remains unnervingly calm, his composure unmoved.
Almost as if he had expected it.
As if he had been waiting for us here before we even came.
With deliberate slowness, he removes Eli’s hand from his shoulder, silencing him with an emotionless stare until Eli finally cracks.
“Fine... it was her idea to sneak out,” he confesses, breaking like an
