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“I was worried about the fence.”
“You were irritated.”
“That too.”
She studies my face. “The hunger responds faster to emotional spike than physical strain.”
“Are you always going to analyze me after nearly killing cookware?”
“Yes.”
“Good to know.”
Sable appears beside us, shoving a folded supply list against my chest. “Safe routes, contact points, medical supplies, food caches, and places not to dramatically die.”
“That last category feels judgmental.”
“It is. Also, a boundary.” Her eyes harden. “If you lose control, I knock you out myself.”
I straighten. “You can try.”
“I will succeed because Isolde will distract you by saying something annoyingly precise, and I will hit you with something heavy.”
Isolde lifts one brow. “I object to being assigned as distraction without consultation.”
“You object beautifully,” Sable says. “You’re still drafted.”
Rhazek’s voice drifts from the porch. “She could also stabilize him.”
Sable glances at him. “Yes, but my plan involves hitting my brother, and I need something to look forward to.”
I press a hand to my chest. “Family is sacred.”
“Family is portable trauma with inside jokes.”
Syrenya, watching from the porch, murmurs, “This is the strangest war council I have ever attended.”
Sable looks at her. “Stay longer.”
By dusk, my arms ache, the yard smells like burned iron and wet earth, and the flame finally obeys more often than it argues. The infernal pressure from the estate has grown stronger, pulsing beneath the district like a slow drumbeat. Every pulse makes the bond tighten.
Isolde stands near the fence, watching the eastern sky darken.
I walk to her before I can talk myself into waiting.
She does not turn immediately, but I feel her awareness shift toward me. “You are quieter.”
“Training worked.”
“Somewhat.”
“Cruel.”
“Accurate.”
I stop beside her. The rain has thinned to mist, clinging to her hair and lashes. In the fading light, she looks less like Vaerith’s analyst and more like the woman who stood inside a trap and handed me a rhythm instead of fear.
“I need to say something,” I tell her.
