Dax’s gaze dropped to the unconscious female and then returned to him.
“Tell me you didn’t do something this fucking stupid.”
Rhen’s silence answered for him.
The compound’s ancient wards pulsed beneath the stone. They recognized Rhen’s blood inside her, but the heretic taint threaded through it disturbed the old protections. Magic whispered through glass, iron, and mortar like something dragged unwillingly from sleep.
Dax must have felt it the second Rhen crossed the boundary.
The rest of the house would have felt it too.
“You selfish son of a bitch,” Dax spat, taking another step forward. “You started her transition?”
“She’s soaked in fucking magic. A corpse couldn’t tell me why. She was dying.”
“Then let her fucking die. We don’t carry unvetted humans across the inner wards, Rhen. Not while one of them is soakedin hostile magic. You know the law. What the hell is wrong with you?”
Rhen’s grip tightened slightly around the female.
Just enough for Dax to notice.
“She’s no stray.”
Dax’s expression hardened.
“Then what is she?”
Rhen didn’t answer because he still didn’t have one.
The maker tether pulled beneath his ribs, intrusive and unwanted. He didn’t know what she was yet, and anything capable of interfering with his instincts was dangerous.
Behind them, the compound doors creaked open.
Warm light spilled across the stone steps while shadows moved behind the tall windows overhead. The others were awake now, drawn by blood and the violent ripple of a fresh tether settling into the house.
Questions would come next.
Fury too.
Possibly consequences none of them would enjoy.
Rhen shifted her weight and angled her head to keep her airway clear.
“She’s leverage,” he said coldly.
Dax stared at him for a long moment, something dark and disbelieving moving behind his eyes.
Rhen’s gaze sharpened.
“Get the fuck out of my way, Dax.”
Instead of backing off, Dax stepped closer as the scent hit him fully.
Blood.
Not hers.
Rhen’s.
