For a while, the only sounds were clinking utensils and quiet breaths—until Alicia suddenly stopped eating.
"Thank you," she said softly.
Xavier looked up. "For?"
"If you hadn't intervened, I would have died." She swallowed. "So… thank you, Xavier."
"It was nothing." His tone was too casual, too dismissive.
Alicia froze. "Nothing?" Her eyes widened. "That poison was crafted to kill someone like me. You absorbed all of it. And that is 'nothing?'"
The room fell silent.
Ariel quickly glup down the glass of water before her.
Xavier lifted his gaze, his expression unchanged. "You're the only experienced witch Horace trusts. Losing you would harm the Pack. I did what needed to be done."
The words sliced through her like cold steel.
Alicia sat back slowly, her expression unreadable. "I see… But don't expect me to believe that."
She resumed eating, though the tremor in her fingers betrayed her calm facade.
