"How diplomatic." Seraphina studied her for a long moment. "Very well. Touch the stone. But know that if you damage it further, the consequences will be painful."
"Threaten her again."
Three words. Dante's voice had gone so soft it was barely audible, but the temperature in the chamber dropped ten degrees. His shadows spread across the floor, no longer coiled butreaching, and the guards by the door took an involuntary step back.
Brynn's heart slammed against her ribs.
He hadn't moved. Hadn't raised his voice. But the Reaper had just made it very clear what would happen if Seraphina touched her.
Seraphina raised an eyebrow but said nothing more.
Brynn placed her hands flat on the crystal surface, forcing herattention back where it belonged. Ward-magic hummed against her palms, familiar now after days of training. But underneath that familiarity, wrongness pulsed through the stone.
The fractures followed too precise a pattern. Targeting exactly the right points to cause disruption while appearing natural.
Sabotage. No question.
She wasn't about to announce that conclusion.
"The signature is complex," she said. "There are layers of different energies here."
"Layers?" Seraphina stepped closer to the stone. "What kind of layers?"
"I'd need more time to analyze them properly. And ideally, I'd want to compare this to your other ward-stones."
"Would you?" A flicker crossed Seraphina's face, gone before Brynn could read it. "And in the process, you'd gain intimate knowledge of my defensive network. How convenient."
The accusation hung in the air.
"If we wanted to attack your domain, we wouldn't announce ourselves and request a tour," Dante said. He'd pulled his shadows back under control, his voice level again.
"Wouldn't you? The best way to learn an enemy's weaknesses is to offer help while gathering intelligence."
Seraphina trailed her hand across the fractured surface. She wasn't examining it—she already knew every crack.
Dante's shadows went rigid against the floor.
"We aren't your enemies," he said. His voice was level. The power crackling around him was not.
"Enemies often hide behind friendly faces." Seraphina circled the stone, trailing her fingers along the crystal. "Tell me, Reaper. How do I know this investigation isn't a cover for sabotage?"
"Because your ward-stones have been failing faster than what you reported at the council," Brynn pointed out, trying to pull the tension back from the edge before it snapped.
The words were out before she could catch them.
Idiot.She'd just handed Seraphina ammunition to deflect suspicion.
Seraphina went still. "Faster." She repeated the word like she was turning it over, examining its edges. "I reported failures at the council meeting, yes. But I never mentioned their rate. Or that they'd been accelerating." Her smile widened. "How do you know that?"
The blood drained from Brynn's face.
The council had disclosed that all courts were experiencing ward failures. But the speed, the escalation, the pattern of increasing frequency—Seraphina hadn't shared that. They only knew because of what they'd found in the Forsaken domain and pieced together from the sabotage patterns.
She'd just revealed they knew more than they should.
"The residue on your stone suggests recent damage layered over older breaks," she managed, keeping her voice steady through sheer force of will. "That implies acceleration."
"Does it?" Seraphina pressed closer. "Or did someone tell you what to look for before you arrived?"
