Chapter 62
LXII.
brYNN
She could feel Dante's tension through the hand at her back. It matched her own growing suspicions.
Something about this felt rehearsed. The concerned friend who reports the theft they committed. The helpful partner bleeding the business dry. She knew this game.
Caelum's magical map rotated slowly above the center stone, all those red warning lights pulsing in perfect synchronization.
The sabotage patterns didn't look random; they looked structural—planned with the kind of intentionality that took years to develop, and the type of intimate knowledge that should have been impossible for anyone outside the ward-keeping bloodline.
"The attacks began months ago," Caelum was saying, gesturing to different sections. "Small failures at first, easily overlooked as natural decay. But they've escalated dramatically in recent weeks."
Right around the time she and Dante had started fixing things. Right around the time someone would have realized she could undo what they'd been building.
She felt Dante's shadows stir against her ankles. He'd caught the same timing.
"How did you detect the pattern?" She kept her voice neutral. "These ward-stones are distributed across individual realms. You shouldn't have visibility into other courts' infrastructure."
Across the circle, Seraphina's hand drifted toward her sword hilt.
"I wasn't monitoring anything inappropriate," Caelum assured her, his smile warm. "I was simply... worried. As the lord responsible for peaceful transitions, I thought it prudent to investigate on everyone's behalf."
"Since when?" Seraphina demanded. "You've never given a damn about barrier maintenance before. That's Reaper’s nightmare, not yours."
"Since the stability of all our realms became threatened." Caelum's expression shifted to wounded sincerity. "I had hoped to resolve this quietly. But the saboteur has forced my hand."
"And who is this saboteur?" Vex demanded, his diminished power making his voice sharp. "You seem remarkably well-informed about their methods."
Caelum's expression grew grave.
"I'm still investigating. But given the specificity of these attacks, it has to be someone with intimate knowledge of the ward network. Someone with access to all our realms." He paused. "Someone we trust."
The temperature in the circle dropped. Vex's eyes darted between the other Death Lords. Thessa's form flickered, becoming more translucent.
Behind her, Dante's power drew tighter. She could feel his shadows wanting to surge forward, to tear answers from Caelum's throat. But he held still. Waiting. Trusting her.
The realization steadied her.
If she was right, she needed proof. Something he couldn't explain away.
Her abilities had been growing stronger since she'd stopped fighting what she was. She could see deeper into the magical structures now. Read flow patterns others might miss.
And suddenly she understood.
"These breaks," she said slowly. "They're not random attacks. Someone knew exactly which supports to remove to cause maximum cascade failure."
"Yes!" Caelum's approval came too quickly. "Which is why we need your talents to identify which core supports remain intact."
But that wasn't what she was seeing.
Her fingers trembled as she traced one of the red zones, following power flow patterns that were becoming clearer with every second.
Every break had been designed to force power through specific junction points. Points that would naturally channel everything through a single domain if repairs followed someone's well-thought-out plan.
He wasn't trying to destroy the wards. He was trying to own them.
"The Mourned Court," she said quietly.
Dante went very still behind her.
"All the remaining stable channels lead back to your realm, Caelum. Every single one."
Silence.
Vex stopped pacing. Seraphina's hand closed fully around her sword. Thessa solidified completely.
"Of course they do." Caelum's voice remained calm. "My domain has always served as the primary stabilizing force. The original architects built it that way, a fail-safe. Natural deaths, peaceful transitions. My power is fundamentally different. Less volatile."
He gestured to the channels.
"It's why my power is best suited to channeling repairs. The system naturally consolidates through my domain during a crisis."
The explanation was almost believable.
She felt Dante's shadows stir against her skin.
"You said the attacks started months ago," she continued, keeping her tone curious. "But I've been tracking ward instabilities as part of my training. Some of these damage patterns are much older. Years, at least."
A pause. Barely a heartbeat.
"You're mistaken," he said, but the warmth had cooled. "The recent attacks—"
"I'm not mistaken." She met his gaze directly. "I know these ward-stones intimately now. This damage didn't start months ago. It's been building for decades."
"What are you suggesting?" Vex's voice had gone quiet, dangerous.
"I'm suggesting that whoever did this has been planning for a very long time. And they know the ward network better than any outsider should." She paused. "They know it the way someone who's been actively managing it would. Someone with operational access, not just theoretical knowledge."
Something flickered behind Caelum's eyes. The mask slipped, just for a second.
"You have a suspicious mind, child." She bristled at the word. "I suppose it comes from your background. But sometimes the simplest explanation is correct."
Dante's shadows tensed against her skin. She felt his attention sharpen.
The other Death Lords were watching. Seraphina's hand hadn't left her sword. Vex had gone still. Thessa was solidifying further.
They weren't dismissing her.
"Let me prove my intentions," Caelum said smoothly. "Let me walk you through exactly how we can stabilize the network."
He offered proof because he still thought he could convince them.
"All right," she said. "Show me."
The map rotated, and she studied not just the damage patterns but the way Caelum gestured. The ease with which he manipulated controls that should have required specialized knowledge to even perceive.
He was too comfortable. Moving through these systems like second nature.
She needed him to slip further. To reveal something only the saboteur would know.
"To repair these junction points," she said slowly, "we'd need to understand how the damage was done." She kept her voice curious, unthreatening. "How would someone even access these deep ward-layers? They're supposed to be sealed."
Dante's hand pressed slightly firmer against her back. He'd caught what she was doing.
"The interior channels can be accessed through the tributary nodes.
" Caelum gestured to the map, warming to the subject.
"You'd need to destabilize the outer shell first. A precise sequence of pressure points that creates a temporary gap without triggering the alarm wards.
Then you redirect the bleed-off through secondary channels to mask the intrusion while you work. "
The words kept coming like he'd done it a hundred times.
Her blood went cold.
Dante's shadows wrapped tightly against her ankles, and she knew he'd heard it too.
"That's not repair methodology," she said.
Caelum's mouth was still open, ready to continue. He stopped.
"I asked how to fix the damage." She met his eyes. "You just told me how to cause it."
Across the circle, Seraphina's sword slid halfway from its sheath.
Vex had gone absolutely still.