"He's not here," Derrick Vance muttered. He said it like a statement instead of the question that it should be, his figure clenched and his eyes narrowed.
In front of him stood a number of people. They stood facing the office of the Head Instructor, Darius Faulkner.
Julius Crane adjusted his glasses, but he didn't say anything out loud, his thoughts locked behind a cold and calm face. In the months that Severin left the House on him and Ethan, he had shouldered the administrative work.
It was hard. He failed. He learned, and he grew.
Ethan himself, the vice leader of the House and the one responsible for representing it, wasn't as calm as the others. His shoulder was knotted with tension, and his eyes on the building grew sharper by the minute.
Celia Hartwell couldn't stand still. She shifted and changed position, her eyes always darting around.
Serena Ashford remained calm, her face seemingly composed, deep in thought.
They stood there and waited.
