"I just wanted to remind someone."
Valeria's gaze didn't waver.
If anything, it deepened.
"Reminding someone?" she asked, softly.
Jesse's jaw flexed. "Something like that."
A breath passed. A thread pulled taut between them. Neither bowed. Neither blinked.
And then—
Valeria tilted her head. Just slightly. "Standing with your sword against someone like Lucavion… that alone carries talent. He's not one to go easy on people."
The words were neutral. Courteous, even.
But the tone—
It shifted.
It wasn't cold. It wasn't even sharp.
But it was sloped—as though spoken from above, not beside. A high vantage dressed in civility. The voice of someone used to speaking down, no matter how softly she wrapped her syllables.
And her eyes…
They were on Jesse.
Steady. Measured.
But beneath that lavender calm was something unmistakable: possession.
A quiet, gloved hand closing around a shape neither of them wanted to name.
I know him.
That's what her gaze said.
