“You’re listening.”
Sable stiffens. “Listening to what?”
Corin answers before I do. “Her heartbeat.”
She turns on me. “You can hear my heartbeat?”
“I can track it through the tether.”
“That is invasive.”
“It is necessary.”
“Stop doing it.”
“I cannot disengage from a primary stability input without introducing additional risk.”
She exhales sharply, anger flaring again, and the tether snaps with pressure before correcting. The pattern confirms itself with increasing clarity. Her emotional state is not simply influencing the bond; it is actively shaping the way my presence holds together in this realm.
Corin suddenly steps behind her and claps sharply beside her ear. “Boo.”
Her pulse surges.
My reaction is immediate and nearly uncontrolled.
Heat flares under my skin, the impulse to flash forward igniting before conscious restraint can intercept it. The air distorts around me, flame licking briefly across the surface of the stone wall before I force the manifestation to hold.
Sable whirls on him. “Are you out of your mind?”
Corin lifts both hands, though his expression lacks remorse. “Testing reaction.”
I close the distance between us faster than intended.
“Do not repeat that experiment,” I say, my voice colder than before.
He glances at the scorched wall, then back at me. “You nearly jumped.”
“I nearly removed you from the equation entirely.”
“That sounds unpleasant.”
“It would have been decisive.”
Sable steps between us, her presence forcing a recalibration through the tether that steadies the lingering instability. “Enough. Both of you.”
Corin leans slightly to look around her. “For something with your reputation, you are not as untouchable as people say.”
“Reputation is often built on incomplete data,” I reply.
“Good. I prefer complete data.”
His gaze sharpens, and I recognize the shift. He is not simply observing now; he is testing, measuring, learning. The same impulse that drove Sable to sign the contract drives him to probe its consequences.
This family does not retreat from danger.
They lean into it.
The realization alters my internal calculus. It explains their survival. It explains her willingness to bind herself to an unknown force. It explains why the bond did not fracture under her will when it might have under another.
