Chapter 45

Unable to sleep, Maevyth steps onto her balcony with tea and watches Celaestrioz fireflies that trigger the glow of her glyphs. Zevander appears on the adjacent balcony, explaining the creatures’ lethal nature and the Death’s Song of Noxidae birds, hinting at his distrust of the enchanting and, pointedly, of beauty.

Their banter turns into a charged dare when Zevander vaults the deadly gap to Maevyth’s balcony, lands silently, and crowds her against the wall. He draws a dagger, presses its flat to her robe in warning about threats, then places the weapon in her hand and murmurs that he will leave his door unlocked—an invitation wrapped in danger. Maevyth trembles with desire and fear, recognizing his predatory grace and her attraction to him.

After he leaves, Maevyth studies the dagger, trying to focus on Zevander’s bloody past to cool her desire. As the fire dims, a Deimosi specter manifests—gaunt, white-haired, with black eyes—and speaks in a rasp, then in a familiar inner voice: do not put your trust in him; the Goddess of Death will punish. Maevyth demands who, but the apparition vanishes.

Shaken, Maevyth hides the dagger under her pillow and lies awake, torn between the memory of Zevander’s closeness, the possibility he is the warned-against “him,” and the threat of divine retribution. She clings to uncertainty and prays for sleep.