"Done? That's it?"
I blinked hard, still finding it hard to believe.
"So it only took you two a minute to trap her somewhere unknown," I said slowly, "but you let her roam free for more than a century?"
Thalor looked at me flatly. "I didn't let her," he said. "She never entered my territory."
I frowned. "What does that mean?"
"She was moving," Thalor replied. "Constantly. Between mirrors. Between hosts."
Vivian nodded weakly. "She never stayed in one place long enough," she added. "And she never fully entered any domain."
Thalor clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed that he even had to explain.
"The rule I hate most about being a Leviathan," he said, "is that I can't interfere unless someone crosses into my territory."
He glanced briefly at Lucian, who showed no surprise at all, then turned back to me.
"She knew that rule," Thalor continued. "That's why she kept skimming the edges. Never stepping fully inside."
