Leena nodded once.
“Thank you. I’ll take it from here.”
Relief swept across Mary’s face. She dipped her head and moved farther down the hallway, remaining close enough to obey Sule’s order without listening at the door.
Leena paused with her hand against the handle.
She could feel it already—that static pull, the oppressive weight of Rhen’s presence pressing through the wood like smoke through stone.
She knocked once.
Then she let herself in.
The room hit her like a punch of heat, fire, and fury. Shadows from the hearth moved violently across the walls. Near the darkened window, Rhen paced with terrible, contained tension, as though he could see a war gathering beyond the glass.
His pacing stopped the moment she entered.
His head snapped toward her, silver eyes locking onto hers, darkness banked behind them. Control stretched thin across every hard line of his body. His fists remained clenched at his sides, his posture rigid enough to suggest violence rather than panic.
Leena closed the door behind her, the quiet click barely registering over the hum of magic in the room.
She moved forward without hesitation, her white gown flowing around her ankles. The swell of her belly gave her a quiet gravity, anchoring her within a room saturated with pain and aggression.
Rhen’s shoulders squared.
“Leena.” His voice came out rough. “The hell are you doing here?”
She offered him a composed smile.
“Hello to you too, Rhen.”
A low growl rumbled in his chest as he took one aggressive step toward her.
“You shouldn’t be here. Leave. Now.”
Leena raised one brow.
“You don’t get to order me around. I’m not fragile, and I’m not leaving.”
His jaw worked, fury bristling through every line of his body.
“Goddamn it, Leena.”
“Rhen.”
Her voice cut through him, gentle but immovable.
“I’m fine. And I know you’re losing control. Don’t insult us both by pretending otherwise.”
She held his gaze.
“I’m here because this affects the clan, because I care what happens to you, and because there is an unconscious woman burning alive in that bed.”
He did not answer.
Leena knew exactly what Rhen was. She had never mistaken him for misunderstood or harmless. She simply refused to fear him, and that made her harder to dismiss than anyone else in the clan.
She stepped closer with the measured confidence of someone who understood precisely how far she could push. Her hand came to rest lightly against his sleeve.
