The door closed behind Kael with a dull, final sound.
The room beyond was narrow and low ceilinged, carved directly into the stone. Shelves lined the walls, stacked with ledgers, scrolls, and sealed packets. A single lantern burned on a table at the center, its flame steady, well fed.
This was not a desperate man's den.
This was an organized one.
Kael took two steps inside and stopped.
Someone was breathing.
Slow. Calm. Unafraid.
"You're early," a voice said from the shadows. "Ryn usually sends warnings before she sends knives."
A man stepped into the lantern light.
He was thin, neatly dressed, hair tied back with a leather cord. No armor. No visible weapon. His eyes were sharp in a practiced way, not predatory, but measuring.
The line Kael had sensed earlier burned clearer now.
Weak, but anchored.
"You must be the boy everyone's running around for," the man said. "The bells were a nice touch. Shook loose a lot of fear. Fear makes people careless."
Kael did not respond.
He watched the man's hands instead. Empty. Relaxed.
Confident.
"You can call me Soren," the broker said. "And before you decide to do something foolish, understand this. I am protected."
Kael tilted his head slightly. "By who."
Soren smiled. "That depends who you ask."
He gestured to the ledgers. "The guards think I am useful. The guilds think I am discreet. Certain nobles think I am loyal."
Kael felt the presence stir, sharper now. Not hunger.
Disgust.
"You sell people," Kael said.
"I move assets," Soren replied smoothly. "People are only special when someone powerful says they are."
Kael stepped closer.
The line of authority thickened. Kael could feel it now, like a cord wrapped around Soren's spine, leading upward through layers of compromise and bribery. Not true authority. Borrowed fragments. Temporary permissions.
Rotten, but real.
Soren noticed the shift. His smile thinned. "You feel that too, don't you."
Kael stopped an arm's length away.
"Yes."
Soren sighed. "Then you understand. Killing me would be inconvenient for many people. Including you."
Kael thought of the corpse pit. Of the noble's grip. Of bells ringing because something in the system had screamed.
"I don't need convenience," Kael said. "I need silence."
Soren's eyes flicked to Kael's shoulder, to the crude binding. "You are injured. Hunted. Alone. You think this ends well for you."
Kael reached out.
Soren flinched despite himself.
Kael's fingers brushed the broker's chest.
The presence surged.
It did not explode outward. It sank inward.
Cold spread through Kael's arm, into Soren's body. The line of authority spasmed, tightening as if trying to pull away.
Soren gasped.
"What are you," he whispered.
Kael pushed harder.
The room dimmed. The lantern flame flickered, then steadied again, smaller than before.
Kael saw fragments spill free.
Permissions. Bribes. Names whispered behind closed doors. A guard captain accepting coin. A clerk altering records. A noble signing a document without reading it.
None of it was strong.
But it was connected.
Soren screamed as the line tore.
It was not loud. Not dramatic.
It was the sound of something coming undone.
Soren collapsed to his knees, clutching his chest. His breathing turned ragged, eyes wide and unfocused.
Kael staggered back, heart pounding.
He had not killed him.
Not yet.
The presence settled, heavier than before. Something new burned faintly in Kael's awareness.
A sense of access.
Soren looked up at him, terror naked now. "Please," he rasped. "I can give you names. Routes. Protection."
Kael looked at the ledgers.
At the shelves.
At the people those pages represented.
"No," Kael said.
He picked up the lantern and smashed it against the table.
Flame roared outward, licking greedily at paper and cloth. Smoke filled the room in seconds.
Kael turned back to Soren.
"Your protection ends tonight."
Soren crawled toward the door, sobbing, clawing at the stone.
Kael stepped forward and placed his foot on the man's back.
The presence pulsed once.
Soren went still.
The line snapped.
Kael staggered as something poured into him. Not power like strength. Not speed.
Weight.
Recognition.
Somewhere above, someone would notice this absence.
Kael let the fire spread. He ripped open drawers, scattering papers, then stepped back into the corridor as smoke thickened.
Ryn was waiting at the far end, knife in hand.
She looked past Kael into the smoke filled room. "Is it done."
Kael nodded.
Ryn exhaled slowly. "Good."
They moved fast, slipping through side passages as shouts rose behind them. Smoke alarms rang. Someone screamed for water.
By the time they reached the shelter, the bells had stopped.
The city had decided the crisis was over.
Ryn watched Kael closely as they walked. "You didn't just kill him," she said. "Did you."
Kael shook his head. "I took something first."
Ryn did not ask what.
When they reached the ruined tenement, Boros barred the door behind them. Ise peered through cracks in the wall, then relaxed.
Ryn turned to Kael.
"You bought shelter," she said. "For now."
Kael felt the presence settle again, deeper than before.
Outside, far above the underdistricts, a guard captain frowned at a report that no longer made sense.
And somewhere else, something ancient adjusted its gaze.