“One,” Eris confirms. “Mortal realm. Female. Hidden. Shielded.”
“Protected by who?” Valdris demands.
“Others,” Eris says. “Not bonded. But touched. Pulled toward her, even if they don’t know why.”
Her gaze sharpens—just slightly. “And some of them… they’d die for her already.”
I keep my expression neutral.
But inside, something twists.
Of course they would. Whatever charm she’s using, it’s working. That’s what Scarborne blood does. It pulls. Promises. Makes people believe they matter.
That kind of power isn’t random. It’s tactical.
I just have to get there before she decides how to use it.
“We should have eradicated the line more thoroughly,” Marcus says. “Their ability to bond made them dangerous. It gave them influence they didn’t earn. Power they didn’t deserve.”
“It made them unpredictable,” I say. “But useful. In the right hands.”
Nyx arches a brow. “Useful to you, you mean?”
I shrug. “She’s untrained. Surrounded. Emotional. You send one of you, and it escalates. You send me—she doesn’t see the blade until it’s too late.”
Valdris studies me. “You’re volunteering to kill her, then?”
“If I have to,” I say. “But I’d rather get her under control first. Alive’s easier to manage. Dead is messier.”
“And if she tries to bond with you?”
“She won’t,” I lie. “There’s nothing in me worth taking.”
Eris tilts her head. “Your thread intersects hers. Faint, but present.”
“Coincidence,” I say flatly.
“Convenient,” Marcus murmurs. “Expendable.”
I nod. “Exactly.”
One by one, they vanish. Magic curling them back into their domains, into their power, into their ignorance.
I remain seated in the dark.
Not because I was dismissed.
But because I have decisions to make.
She’s here. And they’ve just handed her to me.
If she’s what they fear, I’ll know first.
If she’s worse—
I’ll handle it.
They think they’ve sent a weapon.
