Maps showing everywhere she'd traveled since arriving in the death realm, marked with dates. Detailed sketches of her working with ward-tools, drawn from angles that suggested the artist had been watching from hiding. Notes describing her magical responses, her reactions to different types of death magic, and observations about her body language during conversations she'd thought were private.
Her hands went cold against the table.
"Your abilities really are remarkable," Vex said, settling into an ornate chair. "The way you responded to those ward-tools in the human realm. Immediate resonance, wasn't it? Your blood sang to them before you even understood what they were."
She remembered the moment in the vault when the tools had called to her, when ancient magic had responded to her touch, before she'd even arrived in the death realm.
"How do you know about that?" The question came out smaller than she'd intended, and she hated herself for it.
"I make it my business to understand anything that interests me."His smile sharpened. "And you, sweet thing, have been fascinating from the moment you arrived."
Dante had gone still beside her. She could feel the tension radiating from him, his shadows spreading slowly across the floor, frost beginning to form at the edges of the windows.
He was getting ready to kill someone. She probably shouldn't have found that as comforting as she did.
"I believe in being thorough." Vex reached for another document. "For instance, I know you've been experiencing headaches after working with particularly damaged ward-stones. The pain settles behind your right eye, doesn't it? Feels like pressure building until you think your skull might crack."
She'd barely mentioned the headaches to anyone. Had tried to hide them. How did he know about the specific location, the exact sensation?
"Vex," Dante said, his voice dropping low enough to promise violence.
"Oh, but there's more." Vex's attention remained on her. "I know the connection feels different in different domains. Stronger in some places, weaker in others. I even know…” He leaned closer, and his scent hit her. Rich and sweet on the surface, but with vinegar underneath. “…that when you held those tools for the first time, theycalledto you. Not just responded. Called. Like they'd been waiting for you specifically."
Her chest tightened. She could still remember that moment. The way the tools had hummed when she touched them, as if they'd been sleeping and her presence had awakened them. The feeling of rightness, of coming home to something she'd never known she'd lost. She'd never told anyone about that feeling. Not even Dante.Especiallynot Dante, because some part of her had been afraid of what it meant.
The temperature plummeted. Ice crept across the windows, audible cracks forming, and the air thickened under the pressure.
“Keep your distance, Vex.” Dante’s voice was steel wrapped in frost.
"Distance?" Vex finally looked at him, molten eyes bright withamusement. "I'm just showing interest in her remarkable abilities. Such passion, Lord Reaper. One might think you have a personal stake in this."
Her cheeks burned, but she couldn't tell if it was embarrassment or something else entirely.
Vex turned back to her, moving his chair closer with a scrape that made her flinch. "Such a strong connection to ward magic. Almost like you'remeantfor it."
The frost spread faster now, crawling across every surface. Dante's power responding to his anger, whether he wanted it to or not. The rigid set of his shoulders, the way his hands curled into fists, the dark glow building in his eyes.
"That's enough," Dante said.
"Is it?" Vex rose, moving around the table toward her. "I find her responses to the magic quite intriguing. The way it bends to her will, almost like she's commanding it rather than channeling it. Don't you?"
Dante stood abruptly, his shadows surging outward. "Step away from her."
Her pulse jumped in her throat, and she didn't know if it was fear of Vex or reaction to the possessiveness in Dante's voice. Both. Definitely both.
Vex stopped behind her chair, and she could feel unnatural heat radiating from him, warmth that felt hungry rather than comforting. His voice dropped to a murmur. "Such a strong connection to power that should be foreign to you. Makes one wonder what else is hiding in that blood of yours."
Frost from Dante's side. Heat from Vex's. She was caught between two forces that could destroy her, and some hysterical part of her brain noted that this was becoming a theme.
She should start keeping a list. Ways her life had gone sideways. "Caught between Death Lords" could go right under "framed for parents' murder" and "sent as tribute to the realm of the dead."
"Now, Vex." Dante's voice carried the tone he used when he was moments from unleashing his full power.
"Protective, aren't we?" Vex's hands settled on the back of herchair, bracketing her without quite touching. "Tell me, does she know why those tools responded to her so readily? Why the magic answers her touch like she belongs to it?"
His words stirred doubt in her chest. Did Dante know something about her abilities that he hadn't shared? She glanced at him, and for a fraction of a second, she saw it, guilt flickering across his expression. Or fear. Before she could be certain, it was gone, replaced by cold fury.
The ice crept faster across the windows. The crystal walls began to crack under the temperature strain.
