The tension in the room thickened. Just about everyone was watching the standoff, with conversations gradually dying as heads turned toward them.
Melisa felt her smile transform into something else entirely. Not a grimace, not a snarl—but the kind of smile that said she was done playing pretend. The kind of smile that had been waiting so long to show itself.
[Well, on the bright side, finally. No more 'Melanie.' No more nodding along to this revolutionary bullshit.]
"Well?" Koros demanded, his fist clenching on the counter. "Nothing to say, Blackflame?"
Melisa tilted her head slightly, studying him with the same casual interest one might give to an insect before deciding whether to let it live or squash it.
"You know, I'm actually relieved," she said, her voice dropping the high-pitched enthusiastic voice she'd been using. "Pretending to be interested in your half-baked fantasies was getting exhausting."
