Eyes shifted across the hall.
With the subtle precision of people recalculating their footing. Conversations thinned, then angled. Attention, once diffuse, began to converge.
The Griffin inclined his head toward me.
"For that," he said evenly, his voice carrying without effort, "you have our thanks."
That was all it took.
The room adjusted around the statement. Guests turned, not openly staring, but enough that their awareness brushed against me from every direction. I felt it ripple outward, reaching even my own group. Steve and North both looked my way, expressions unreadable, my summons shifting their attention without comment. Nothing had been said directly to us, yet we had been placed squarely at the center of the moment.
My thoughts accelerated, stacking one over another until the noise of the hall dulled at the edges and it felt like time stopped.
Why?
That was the only question that mattered.
