Badly.
Every interaction we've had since that first day has devolved into barely restrained hostility. She looks at me like I'm the most insufferable creature she's ever encountered, and I snap at her like she's personally responsible for every disruption in my carefully maintained routine.
Which sheis.
Azhrael has been impossible since she arrived.
The beast who has never once refused my commands, who responds to me with the kind of loyalty most handlers would kill for, now watches me with something that feels dangerously close to resentment. He won't eat unless I leave his enclosure entirely. He paces when I'm near, agitated and restless, and the few times I've attempted to check his containment wards, he's reacted with outright aggression.
But whenshe'sin the stables? He settles. Watches her with that eerie, focused stillness that suggests recognition rather than instinct.
It makes no sense.
I tried to fix it. Quietly, without drawing attention to the problem, I requested a different human for stable duty.Someone with more experience, or at least someone who wouldn't look at me like I was something stuck to the bottom of her boot.
The replacement lasted less than a day before Sythrak tore him apart.
So now I'm stuck with Lenna, which means I'm stuck in her presence for hours on end, exchanging glares across the walkways while my frustration builds into something I can't quite name.
It's not just irritation. It's sharper than that. More intrusive.
She gets under my skin in a way that feels almost physical, like an itch I can't reach. Every time she looks at me with that particular blend of defiance and contempt, something in my chest tightens. Every time she speaks—clipped, precise, utterly unafraid—I have to suppress the urge to either snap at her or...
I don't know what.
That's the worst part. I don't know what I want from her, only that her presence disrupts my focus in ways that feel increasingly dangerous.
Vexris slams into the barrier again, and the wards flare bright enough to make me blink. I exhale slowly and force my attention back to the enclosure.
Focus. This is what matters. Not a human laborer who hates you. Not the way Azhrael's behavior has become incomprehensible. Not the fact that you can't seem to stop thinking about either of them.
"Looks like Vexris is in a mood."
I don't flinch at Damiros's voice, though I didn't hear him approach. My brother moves with the kind of quiet precision that most people find unsettling. I find it familiar.
"She's always in a mood," I say without turning. "It's her baseline."
Damiros stops beside me, close enough that I can see him in my peripheral vision. He's dressed in his usual style—dark, tailored, with just enough ornamentation to signal status without tipping into excess. His silver hair is pulled back neatly, and his expression is calm, measured, giving nothing away.
We stand in silence for a moment, watching the beasts. It's comfortable in the way most of our interactions are—functional, efficient, requiring no unnecessary words.
"Khorvas is showing well," Damiros says eventually. "The buyer from Vesnios is still interested?"
"Last I heard. I'll have him ready for inspection next week."
Damiros nods. "Good. And Sythrak?"
"Not ready." My tone sharpens slightly. "He's too volatile right now. Needs another season at minimum."
"Understood." Damiros tilts his head slightly, considering. "The auction in Marinae is in three weeks. I'll need a final list of viable candidates by the end of this week."
"You'll have it."
This is how we operate. Damiros handles the selling, the bureaucratic navigation, the careful political maneuvering required to maintain House Virex's reputation in the broader demon hierarchy. I handle the beasts themselves—containment, training, assessment. It's a clean division of labor that works because we don't blur the lines.
We also don't talk about feelings.
It's not that we're incapable of it, necessarily. It's just never seemed necessary. Damiros knows what I do, and I trust him to manage his end without interference. Anything beyond that feels like wasted energy.
