Merlina blinked, the words hitting her like a splash of cold water.
"Where's that coming from?" she asked, her voice low but tight, barely steady under the pressure of rising panic. "What… what do you mean?"
Phoebe shifted, leaning her hip against the desk, arms crossed loosely but her eyes sharp. "You and him. Earlier? What was that about? Because I kind of… heard something."
That got Merlina's heart pounding. She straightened a little too quickly, her hands curling around the edge of her laptop.
"What did you hear?" she asked, trying to sound casual but her eyes were too wide, her voice too fragile to pull it off.
Phoebe hesitated, chewing the inside of her cheek like she was weighing how much to reveal. "I couldn't even make sense of it. Just something about you and him going somewhere together. Someone's room. Izzy? No—Lizzie. Yeah, Lizzie."
Merlina tilted her head. "Uh-huh?"
Phoebe nodded slowly. "And they were saying… that Craig's protective over you."
