"You think you know him, little thief?" Her voice dropped to barely above a whisper. "The great Reaper?"
Brynn held her ground through the chill running down her spine.
"I know enough."
"Do you?" Seraphina tilted her head. "Tell me, has he mentioned the last human who got too close?"
Brynn forced herself not to react. Her fingers curled tight.
"What are you talking about?"
"He hasn't told you." Seraphina's laugh was soft, merciless. "How interesting. The great Reaper, keeping secrets from his pet."
Brynn glanced toward Dante, still engaged with the guard.
He was hiding something. She just didn't know what yet.
"He doesn't scare me," she said, lifting her chin.
"He should." Seraphina's expression shifted. The mockery fell away, and what replaced it was worse. It looked almost like pity. "We all should. You're playing with forces that have destroyed everything they've touched."
Brynn studied her face, trying to separate truth from manipulation. Seraphina held her gaze without flinching.
"You're trying to turn me against him."
"I'm trying to save your life." Seraphina's voice dropped lower. "The wards aren't the only things breaking. Ask him about the tribute he became attached to. And what happened when she started asking the wrong questions."
She'd assumed this was unprecedented. All of it. The way his shadows curled toward her when he wasn't paying attention. The way his voice roughened when he saidthief, like the word had changed shape in his mouth. The way he'd spread his darkness over her in the desert without thinking, adjusting it to track the sun so it never left her skin exposed.
She'd assumed she was the first person to stand this close to him and not run.
The suggestion that someone else had stood exactly where she was standing. That he'd watched someone else with that same intensity. Shielded someone else with those same shadows. Said someone else's name in that same low, rough voice.
And that person was probably dead now.
Because of him.
Her nails carved crescents into her palms. She kept her face still, kept her breathing even, kept every single thing she was feeling locked behind her teeth. Because if Seraphina saw what those words had done, she'd won.
"You're lying."
"Am I?" Seraphina stepped back, her voice returning to normal volume as Dante finished with the guard. The shift was seamless. Performer to audience in a single breath.
Dante's attention snapped to them. His shadows tightened, darkness pooling between him and Seraphina.
"Is there a problem?"
His voice was neutral. The warning underneath was not.
"No problem." Seraphina's mouth curved. "Just sharing history with your companion. The desert has so many fascinating stories."
She watched Brynn as she said it. Watching to see if the seed had taken root.
"What kind of stories?" Dante's voice could have frozen the desert outside.
"Oh, the usual tales of mortals who ventured too deep into our realm." Seraphina gestured toward the guest quarters. "Most don't end well, I'm afraid. The death realm has a way of consuming those who don't belong."
Her tone shifted to something light, pleasant, hollow. "Rest well. The journey back to your court will be... illuminating."
