"I'm not mistaken." She met his gaze directly. "I know these ward-stones intimately now. This damage didn't start months ago. It's been building for decades."
"What are you suggesting?" Vex's voice had gone quiet, dangerous.
"I'm suggesting that whoever did this has been planning for a very long time. And they know the ward network better than any outsider should." She paused. "They know it the way someone who's been actively managing it would. Someone with operational access, not just theoretical knowledge."
Something flickered behind Caelum's eyes. The mask slipped, just for a second.
"You have a suspicious mind, child." She bristled at the word. "I suppose it comes from your background. But sometimes the simplest explanation is correct."
Dante's shadows tensed against her skin. She felt his attention sharpen.
The other Death Lords were watching. Seraphina's hand hadn't left her sword. Vex had gone still. Thessa was solidifying further.
They weren't dismissing her.
"Let me prove my intentions," Caelum said smoothly. "Let me walk you through exactly how we can stabilize the network."
He offered proof because he still thought he could convince them.
"All right," she said. "Show me."
The map rotated, and she studied not just the damage patterns but the way Caelum gestured. The ease with which he manipulated controls that should have required specialized knowledge to even perceive.
He was too comfortable. Moving through these systems like second nature.
She needed him to slip further. To reveal something only the saboteur would know.
"To repair these junction points," she said slowly, "we'd need to understand how the damage was done." She kept her voice curious, unthreatening. "How would someone even access these deep ward-layers? They're supposed to be sealed."
Dante's hand pressed slightly firmer against her back. He'd caught what she was doing.
"The interior channels can be accessed through the tributary nodes." Caelum gestured to the map, warming to the subject. "You'd need to destabilize the outer shell first. A precise sequence of pressure points that creates a temporary gap without triggering the alarm wards. Then you redirect the bleed-off through secondary channels to mask the intrusion while you work."
The words kept coming like he'd done it a hundred times.
Her blood went cold.
Dante's shadows wrapped tightly against her ankles, and she knew he'd heard it too.
"That's not repair methodology," she said.
Caelum's mouth was still open, ready to continue. He stopped.
"I asked how to fix the damage." She met his eyes. "You just told me how to cause it."
Across the circle, Seraphina's sword slid halfway from its sheath.
Vex had gone absolutely still.
LXIII.
DANTE
One second they were discussing repairs. The next they were staring at a man who'd just revealed intimate knowledge of techniques he should never have encountered.
And Brynn had caught him perfectly.
She hadn't accused him of anything directly. Hadn't made claims she couldn't prove. She'd just asked technical questions and let him damn himself with his own expertise, his own arrogance. Dante's shadows stirred with pride. She'd seen through Caelum when the rest of them were still scrambling.
