Its body stiffens, and fear finally overtakes curiosity.
I tighten my grip. “Who listens?”
“Everyone listens.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It is the answer.”
The creature’s claws scrabble against the fence, carving shallow lines into the wood. It smells of carrion smoke, sulfurous saliva, and old bone dust. Somewhere above and behind me, Sable’s pulse spikes as the disturbance reaches her awareness. The tether reacts sharply, and my own response becomes immediate.
I crush the lesser demon’s throat.
The body convulses once. Infernal matter does not die like mortal flesh, but it can be unmade efficiently if sufficient authority is applied. I drive power through the point of contact, collapsing the creature’s structure from the inside out. Its limbs fold inward, its eyes blacken, and the hiss that escapes it becomes a thin stream of ash.
I leave the remains intact enough to be recognized.
Corin reaches the fence as I lower the corpse to the ground outside the ward line. He stares at the body, then at me, his jaw tight.
“That was fast.”
“It was weak.”
“It was still a demon.”
“So am I.”
“Yeah, I noticed the resemblance.”
“There is no resemblance.”
He looks at the warped corpse. “Fine. Family resemblance, then.”
Sable appears in the open doorway behind us, hair loose over one shoulder, ink on her fingers, and a knife in her hand. Thesight of the blade produces an immediate and disproportionate reaction in my core, not because it offers meaningful protection, but because she came armed before she came frightened.
“What happened?” she demands.
“A lesser observer approached the perimeter,” I say.
Her gaze drops to the corpse beyond the fence. She goes very still, and her pulse rises in a controlled, furious climb. “It came here because of the contract.”
“Yes.”
“And you killed it.”
“Yes.”
Corin points toward the road. “Technically, he squeezed it into a cautionary tale.”
Sable ignores him. “Will more come?”
“Yes.”
I do not soften the answer because she would not thank me for it, and because false comfort would insult the acuity she keeps demonstrating despite her terror.
Her fingers tighten around the knife. “Then we make sure they know what happens when they get curious.”
Corin steps toward the gate. “I’ll drag it out to the road.”
