Lucien sniffed himself, but there was no obvious scent on him. Nothing he recognized.
Then he remembered Seraphine's smile before he left, and realization struck at once.
She had definitely done something to him with those strange powers of hers.
He used Structural Insight and immediately saw the problem.
A "scent clause" was clinging to his body.
Lucien nearly cried.
It was the kind of scent only women could detect.
'Shit.'
What followed was not peace.
It was interrogation.
The others turned on him properly.
Not violently.
Just with questions sharp enough to qualify as coordinated assault.
Vivian was first.
Her concern did not come from jealousy. It came from something older and more familiar. Protectiveness.
Lucien could see it in the way she folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at him.
"Lu," she said, "did someone trick you?"
Lucien looked offended at once.
"Why is that your first conclusion?"
Vivian did not even blink.
