Location:Demon Realm — Vaelith's Research Chambers, Kor'veth Citadel
Date/Time:30 Blazepeak, 9939 AZI
Realm:Demon Realm
Vaelith had not slept in four days.
Ren could see it in the way she held herself — not the fragility of exhaustion but the rigidity of a healer who'd found something she couldn't explain and was refusing to rest until it made sense. Her vivid green-gold eyes had the sharp, brittle quality of someone running on purpose alone. Her midnight black hair — gold streaks dulled by the chamber's amber light — was pulled back in a knot that had been retied at least three times without being taken down.
Vorketh stood behind her. Deep copper eyes tracking Ren as he entered. The massive frame positioned not beside but behind — eighteen thousand years of truemating bond making the guard instinct operate below conscious thought. His expression said what his mouth didn't: she won't stop, I can't make her, and if you can, do it soon.
