Zyren simply stared at it without making any move to take it from Jared, who seemed unwilling to part with it even as he opened the box he had placed on the table.
Inside, for everyone to see, was a small necklace inlaid with black jewels. It gleamed faintly beneath the candlelight, the dark stones catching a glint of red from the wine on the table.
To Aria, it looked completely ordinary. She instantly assumed she had been wrong—perhaps it wasn't what she feared—seeing Zyren lean closer to it with no apparent harm to his body. He even went ahead to pick it up, lifting the delicate chain between his fingers as if weighing its worth, the jewels glinting in his pale palm.
Jared continued to speak, his tone confident but edged with a strange hesitance. "We're not sure what exactly it can do, but we do know it's powerful," he said, leaning back into his chair as he watched Zyren inspect the necklace.
