Seraphina's Point Of View
"Unfortunately, Rose," I said gently, meeting her eyes, "I have to go."
Rose blinked.
"Huh?" She laughed lightly like she thought I was joking. "Already? Sera, you haven't even eaten anything."
Mason glanced at the table as if to confirm. "Yeah, you barely touched your plate."
I shrugged, keeping my tone calm even though my pulse was still doing strange, uneven things. "I'm not that hungry."
Rose's brows pulled together. "Not that hungry? You were literally starving an hour ago. You said, and I quote 'if I don't eat in the next five minutes, I might start biting people.'"
Mason smirked faintly. "That sounds serious."
"It was serious," Rose insisted, turning fully toward me now. "And there's still more activities for the night. The live band hasn't even started. There's dancing later. And the rooftop lounge opens in, like, thirty minutes."
Her excitement was genuine. Her eyes sparkled.
And for a split second, guilt tugged at me.
