His eyes had gone cold.
Not angry in the ordinary way. Anger had heat. Anger shouted, burned, reached for something to break. This was colder than that. Older. Patient in a way that made her skin tighten, as if something beneath the world had opened one eye and noticed her.
"Then why did you do it?" he asked.
The question came quietly.
"Why did you have to go and do that, huh, Cassiopeia?"
Cassiopeia shook as the very air started to shriek in cold fear.
A tremor moved through her whole body, from chest to knees, as if the words had struck bone. But Phei had not raised his voice, he had not moved toward her and he had not even touched the power inside him yet his presence alone was so suffocating she felt like she might die any moment.
He did not need his powers as it turned out. The certainty in the room was enough.
Right now, Cassiopeia was alive because of one thing.
The mark.
His mark.
Apparently, on her behalf, decided she was worth keeping.
