They glimmered faintly in the blue light.
"These will work with the two you have in your jacket," he said.
Brynn's hand moved instinctively to the inner pocket where she'd concealed her tools. "How did you?—"
"I can sense their magic." His black eyes met hers, and she felt the weight of that stare. "Those tools carry the resonance of the same power that built these ward-locks." He studied her more intently, and she resisted the urge to step back. "Show me both sets."
Reluctantly, she pulled her tools from her pocket. They were warm to the touch. Warmer than they should have been, just from sitting against her body. When she held them next to the ones he'd given her, they seemed to recognize each other somehow.
The metal hummed faintly.
"These aren't just lockpicks," she said, the realization hitting her.
"No." He moved closer to the failing mechanism, and she followed, hyperaware of his presence beside her in the cramped chamber. "They're designed for something far more complex."
"And you think I can fix this because...?"
"Tell me what you see when you look at that ward-lock." He gestured toward the device.
She focused on the chaotic patterns, and they resolved into something that made perfect sense. Like reading a language she'd somehow always known but never consciously learned.
"It's not broken," she said slowly, confidence building with each word. “Foreign elements are disrupting the core mechanism. Look at how the energy flow is being redirected through those secondary channels. If we remove the interfering components, it should stabilize."
He went very still beside her. That stillness meant his complete attention was focused on something.
On her.
"You can see the energy flows," he said quietly.
She nodded. "Can't you?"
"No."
The single word held weight. Meaning. She looked at him, but his expression was neutral.
He approached the mechanism. "I need your help," he said, the words coming out with reluctance.
The Death Lord who'd claimed her in front of everyone needed something from her.
"We need to stabilize this before the barriers collapse completely." He glanced back at her, his gaze unwavering.
Brynn studied the failing lock, watching the erratic patterns dance across its crystal components. "What do you need me to do?"
"These locks maintain the barriers." He moved to stand beside the device, close enough that she could feel the cold radiating from his shadows. "This one stabilizes the boundary between life and death in this sector. If it fails..."
"Souls cross over without control," she finished.
"Yes." He gestured to the tools in her hands. "You said you could see how the flows are disrupted. I need you to show me what you mean."
She approached the mechanism cautiously, acutely aware of his presence just behind her.
"Here," she said, pointing to where crystal and metal components intersected. "The flow should be moving in a smooth circuit, but it's being forced through these side channels instead. Like..." She paused, searching for the right comparison. "Like water trying to flow through a pipe that's been partially blocked."
He stayed at a distance, but his shadows stretched forward to where she was pointing, tracing the pathways she described. The dark tendrils moved, following her words.
"I can see the components," he said, "but not the energy patterns you're describing."
"Really?" She looked at him in surprise. "But you're so powerful. Surely you can?—"
