Alina felt her chest tighten as he spoke. She wanted to look away but she couldn't. His eyes flicked to her, just for a breath, enough to make her lips part and her breath catch in her throat.
"And that," he said, his final words cold but wrapped in that strange, velvet heat, "is why you do not choose lightly. Your teacher now is your first step into the life you will build. So decide."
He fell silent, the last word lingering in the air like a hush before a storm. The babies sat frozen, wide-eyed with tiny shoulders stiff. Boo clutched Lucian's arm so tightly that Lucian had to shake him off.
Gabriel clapped his hands once, his bright smile breaking the heavy quiet like sunlight through clouds. "Well," he said, his warm voice like a hug, "you heard your principal. Now… what do you say?"
The babies all turned back to Alina, each little face holding its own spark of hope and mischief. Alina felt her throat tighten, her hands shaking where they gripped her skirt.
