Alina turned toward Dante with narrowed eyes, suspicion written clearly across her face.
Dante looked suspiciously calm. Too calm. The kind of calm that suggested he knew exactly what was happening and had absolutely no intention of explaining it yet. His posture remained relaxed against the couch, one arm resting along the backrest, his long fingers loosely curled as if nothing unusual had happened in the room at all.
Which only made her more suspicious.
Before she could demand an answer, Ak stepped back slightly from the couch.
"I must leave now," the priest said calmly, brushing an invisible crease from the sleeve of his dark robes. "I have other matters to attend to. Shadows to consult. Prayers to offer. The usual."
His voice carried that same smooth, unsettling calm it always seemed to hold, as if the world's strangest events were simply ordinary parts of his day.
Without waiting for anyone to respond, he lifted one hand.
The air in front of him rippled.
