I looked at Stella, who had leaned her head against my shoulder for just a second in the cafe, a small, fleeting gesture of affection before the world snapped back into focus. Space warped around me, the familiar, effortless fold of The Grey, and an instant later, we stood in the quiet, sunlit living room of the penthouse. The transition was seamless, the hustle of the Avalon street vanishing as if it had never been.
"You're embarrassed," I chuckled, releasing her. The warmth of the one-armed hug lingered, a brief moment of normal father-daughter contact. "Because of that Kaelen kid?"
