Sarafina POV
The smile didn't reach his eyes.
It was careful.
Measured.
Like he had stepped into a moment he'd been waiting for.
Thalen shifted slightly beside me, subtle but lethal.
"I was not informed we were entertaining," he said coolly.
The stranger's gaze flicked to the mark on my palm.
"Oh, I think you were," he replied softly.
The air changed.
A sharp metallic click echoed from the walls.
Then another.
Stone panels slid open.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Quiet. Precise.
Hunters stepped out of the shadows like they had grown there.
Silver glinted under torchlight.
My lungs tightened.
They weren't rushing.
They weren't panicking.
They were prepared.
Red sigils ignited along the floor, lines of power snapping into place around us. The air thickened instantly—magic dampening, pressing against my skin like invisible chains.
Thalen moved first.
Power cracked from him in a violent arc, slamming two hunters into the far wall hard enough to fracture stone.
