The warmth left him.
It happened between one heartbeat and the next. The fingers in Rosie's hair went still. The arm around Vex stopped moving. The body that had been settling into Ayame's lap turned rigid, every muscle locking at once, and the air in the room changed.
Seraphiel's healing magic stuttered. The golden warmth that had been tracing his ribs met something underneath that pushed back, cold and dense, older than anything in her class repertoire.
Quinlan sat up.
"Tell me about Black Fang."
Vex recovered first. She wiped her face with the back of her hand and the crying stopped like a door closing.
"I wanted to believe she'd managed to escape, but... Orianna explained that with the final spell she cast, that's unlikely. [Ouroboros: Endless Hunger] is a self-taunt. Once it's active, it demands blood. She would've fought to the very end."
She swallowed.
