Just as the silence following the burning feather settled into the bones of everyone present, Chuka materialized beside Louis.
No flash. No ripple.One moment he wasn't there. The next—he was.
His expression, usually unreadable or quietly amused, was now edged with something rare and chilling: fear.
A wry smile tugged at his lips, forced and hollow.
"You saw it?"
Louis didn't need to elaborate. He knew Chuka had felt it too—the rupture, the black feather, the shift in the weave of existence.
Chuka nodded once.
"Mm. She's here."
Louis's eyes narrowed. "She who?"
Chuka's throat moved with a dry swallow. He didn't look at Louis.
"Envy."
The name alone hung like a curse between them.
"The Deadly Sin of Envy. And she's not someone we can face. Not now. Not you, not me, not even with all your familiars combined."
