“She saved me.”
Cole’s voice remained rough from the damage the storm had caused, but nothing about it wavered.
“She could have watched me die without lifting a hand, yet she took the power into herself instead. Whatever she is, that choice was hers.”
Malakai rested his hands against the edge of the table before signing.
We are already surrounded by risks we do not understand. Sule is missing, rogues are being controlled in our streets, DiabloLevélle has breached the grounds, and Veya’s maker tether remains unstable.
His expression hardened.
Letting the witch die guarantees that we lose the only living connection we possess.
Rhen stopped pacing.
“And when she wakes and turns against us?”
We contain the transition, watch her, and learn what we can before she understands her new strength.
Dax met Rhen’s gaze.
“We do not pretend the risk is small, but allowing her to die is still a decision.”
Rhen looked toward Cole.
“You believe my blood will be enough?”
“I believe it may give her body the strength to survive what she took from me.”
Cole’s next words came more carefully.
“Some old heretic accounts describe bonds formed through blood that later required a second act to stabilize them fully. The accounts disagree about whether that act was ritual, consummation, or something else.”
Rhen’s expression became lethal.
“She cannot even tell us her name.”
“Then nothing else happens unless she becomes lucid enough to choose it,” Cole said. “For now, blood is the only chance she has.”
Silence settled across the kitchen.
Rhen’s decision arrived as fury rather than mercy.
“I will turn her.”
He looked at each brother in turn.
“If this destroys the compound, the responsibility belongs to all of us.”
Dax nodded.
“We understand.”
Rhen disappeared before anyone could offer further argument.
* * *
His chamber received him in shadow and dying firelight.
