Chapter 19: Sister, sister
Zephyr stormed down the polished obsidian corridor, the rejected contract still burning in his mind. 'Give up my name? Become a tethered hound? They truly thought I'd be desperate enough to kneel'.
He rounded a corner—and nearly collided with her.
Rachel Demios.
His older sister, one of the twins.
Clad in a robe trimmed with ceremonial fire-thread and obsidian-etched armor at her shoulders, Rachel was every bit the perfect heir the clan flaunted—cold, composed, and lethal. Her silver-white skin shimmered under the corridor's torchlight, her crimson eyes glinting with a predator's awareness.
Then he felt something.
Dread.
It wasn't loud, but it was unmistakable—a chill up his spine, a breath he couldn't take.
She stood still, watching him.
He looked for a moment, then continued on. But her voice, cool and emotionless, stopped him in his tracks.
"I can see you've finally accessed Aether."