The Devil's Broken Doll
Cael halted a fraction behind her, shadows snapping outward defensively before recognising the threat as sovereign rather than enemy.
For a single suspended breath, the three of them stood too close.
The leash reacted.
It flared into visibility around Adelaide’s ankle in a thin, molten thread, red igniting along its length and racing upward in a sharp, searing pulse that snapped through the air like lightning travelling along a live wire. The energy struck her spine and radiated outward, not painful, but overwhelming, as if every nerve in her body had been illuminated at once.