Chapter 48: I Gave Lira One Open Favor—and Rhea Called Me an Idiot

"Silvano, you bastard."

"Mistress."

"You used the memory argument."

Rhea’s eyes narrowed.

"You know I hate that."

"Mistress, it was the only valid argument."

"..."

"Was I wrong?"

Rhea didn’t answer.

She stepped away from the window.

Walked toward the desk with her usual calm fluidity.

Sat in the chair behind it.

Folded her hands over the papers.

Looked at all three of them.

"Vega."

"Yeah, Rhea?"

"Continue."

Her golden eyes settled on him.

"Tell me the rest."

Adrián breathed.

"I got to campus. Yuki showed up at noon."

Rhea listened.

"She talked."

"She told me she needed to step away."

"That she’d noticed changes in me over the last two weeks."

"That she’d seen Ishtar the first time."

"Then Lira at the pool hall."

His mouth tightened.

"She said she didn’t want explanations because she knew she would believe me, and she couldn’t let herself believe me today."

"..."

"I listened."

"Good."

"Then I kissed her."

Silence.

Beside him, Ishtar let out the faintest little snort.

Not quite laughter.

More somewhere between:

I knew it.

And:

Oh, brother-in-law.

Rhea didn’t even blink.

"Good," she said.

"Continue."

"...She kissed me back."

Adrián rubbed the back of his neck.

"The kiss, I mean."

"Then she told me she still needed space."

"That it wasn’t a rejection."

"That it was something she needed."

"She said she couldn’t keep being the friend who waited for me with food every day."

His voice became quieter.

"She said she needed a version of me who was ready."

"Not half of me."

"..."

"I promised I’d deal with everything I have going on and come back to her."

"She accepted."

"We said goodbye."

"She got into a cab."

"..."

"And before I got into the car to come back, she told me there was something else."

Something more important."

Rhea’s eyes narrowed.

"What?"

Adrián ran his tongue over his lip.

"Someone’s following her."

Absolute silence filled the office.

Rhea became perfectly still behind the desk.

Ishtar’s crossed arms dropped to her sides.

Silvano straightened.

"Repeat that," Rhea said.

Her voice was very calm.

"Repeat exactly what you just said, Vega."

"Someone’s following her."

Adrián held her gaze.

"For three days."

"She feels this strange cold whenever they’re nearby."

"She catches movement when she turns around."

"She never sees the whole person."

"Once, she heard a very quiet laugh."

He listed the details.

"Tall."

"Long black hair."

"Probably female."

"Fast."

Rhea stood up.

Very slowly.

Very, very slowly.

She walked around the desk.

Stopped directly in front of Adrián.

Placed one hand on his shoulder.

Not harshly.

Firmly.

"Vega."

"Yeah, Rhea?"

"Listen to me very carefully."

Her golden eyes locked onto his.

"Very carefully."

"Okay."

"What you just told me changes everything."

Adrián said nothing.

"Do you understand that?"

"Yes."

"It changes the threat level."

"It changes our protocols."

"It changes how angry I am about what you did today."

"It changes what we’re doing tonight."

"And tomorrow."

Her fingers tightened slightly against his shoulder.

"It changes everything."

"...Okay."

"And I need you to tell me one more thing before we start deciding what to do."

"Okay."

"When you left the bench after meeting Yuki..."

Rhea’s gaze sharpened.

"...did you encounter anyone from our House?"

Adrián went very still.

"..."

"Vega."

"Yes."

He swallowed.

"I ran into Lira."

Rhea closed her eyes for one second.

When she opened them again, something had changed.

Not anger.

Not surprise.

Something sharper.

More concerned.

"Lira."

Her voice flattened.

"How did she find you?"

"She said she had her methods."

"Of course she did."

Rhea rubbed one temple.

"She’s Lira."

Her hand returned to Adrián’s shoulder.

"What did you talk about?"

Adrián breathed.

He knew this was the critical moment.

He knew if he lied, Rhea would know.

He also knew that if he told the truth—

Rhea was going to explode.

He chose the truth.

"I asked her to protect Yuki."

Rhea stared at him.

"She agreed."

A pause.

"We made a deal."

Beside him, Ishtar took half a step backward.

Pure horror appeared on her face.

"Brother-in-law."

"Ishtar, I know."

"Brother-in-law."

Her eyes widened.

"No."

"I know, Ishtar."

"BROTHER-IN-LAW."

Her voice cracked.

"NO."

Without taking her hand off Adrián’s shoulder, Rhea turned her head toward Ishtar.

"Ishtar."

Ishtar froze.

"Be quiet for one second."

Ishtar immediately shut her mouth.

Rhea looked back at Adrián.

Her golden eyes were calm.

Far too calm.

"Vega."

"Yeah?"

"Tell me the exact terms of the deal."

Adrián swallowed.

"One open-ended favor."

Rhea’s expression didn’t change.

"Unspecified."

"To be collected whenever she chooses."

"No negotiation."

"..."

"And also."

Rhea’s fingers tightened.

"And also?"

"When Lira eventually meets Yuki officially, with my prior permission..."

Adrián forced himself to continue.

"...I can’t make a scene or interfere with however Lira chooses to build a relationship with her."

Rhea squeezed his shoulder.

Not hard.

Just firmly enough to make it very clear that a much stronger impulse was being restrained somewhere underneath.

Then—

without changing expression,

without raising her voice,

with the precise calm of a woman who had spent three centuries handling difficult situations—

she said:

"Vega."

"Yeah, Rhea?"

"You’re an idiot."

"I know."

"A complete idiot."

"I know."

"An absolute idiot."

"I know."

"Hopeless."

"I know."

"And Lira just obtained something she’s spent thirty years trying to get from me and couldn’t."

Adrián froze.

"..."

"Good."

Rhea released his shoulder.

Walked back behind the desk.

Sat down.

Then covered her face with both hands.

"Ishtar."

"Yes, sister?"

"Bring me Lira."

Rhea didn’t lower her hands.

"Now."

"And Nikita."

A pause.

"And call Kael."

"Tell him to stop whatever he’s doing."

"I need everyone in this office in twenty minutes."

"...Okay, sister."

Ishtar hurried out of the office.

Silvano and Adrián remained standing in front of the desk.

Rhea, still covering her face, spoke without looking up.

"Vega."

"Yeah, Rhea?"

"Sit down."

She sighed.

"Both of you."

"Silvano too."

Her hands lowered slightly.

"This is going to take a while."

They sat.

And in the silence of the thirtieth-floor office, with the city stretching beyond the windows like a sea of rooftops and towers, Rhea Alastor lowered her hands and began mentally reorganizing everything that had just been rearranged in her plans.

---

Lira Vex arrived first.

She entered the office wearing the same modernized kimono from the day before, perfectly arranged, without the slightest indication that she had been urgently summoned.

Serene smile in place.

High heels moving at their usual unhurried pace.

A cup of tea in one hand.

"Mistress."

"Lira."

Rhea pointed toward a chair.

"Sit."

"With pleasure."

Lira sat in one of the armchairs.

Crossed her legs.

Then gave Adrián the faintest smile as though this were the first time they had seen each other that day—

and not as though they had signed a dangerous bargain on a sidewalk two hours earlier.

Nikita Volkov arrived second.

Tablet in hand.

No greeting.

She sat beside Lira and immediately began typing.

Kael Vandragh arrived third.

He entered the office still wearing his travel coat.

Two days of stubble covered his jaw.

His eyes looked tired.

A briefcase hung from his left hand.

He tossed it onto the floor beside an armchair.

"Mistress," he said.

His voice was even deeper than usual.

The voice of a man who had traveled a very long distance in very little time.

"They made me abandon an operation halfway through."

His electric-blue eyes narrowed.

"I hope this is worth it."

"Kael."

Rhea pointed.

"Sit."

"Mistress—"

"Now."

Kael sat.

Ishtar entered last.

She closed the door behind herself.

Then remained standing beside it with her arms crossed.

She didn’t sit.

Watchful.

Rhea stood behind her desk.

"Good."

Her eyes moved across everyone in the room.

"I’m going to summarize the situation in three points."

"Questions afterward."

She placed both hands against the desk.

"I’m starting."

The four of them nodded.

"One."

Rhea’s voice became clinical.

"Yesterday, Adrián Vega performed an amplification event during his second day of training with Lira."

"The event generated a sensory pulse detected by at least three noble Houses within the city."

A pause.

"As well as at least two Fallen Orders..."

Her expression hardened.

"...and one angelic garrison in the northern sector."

Kael immediately straightened in his chair.

"...An angelic garrison?"

"Yes, Kael."

Rhea looked toward Nikita.

"Nikita confirmed it early this morning."

"The angels felt the pulse too."

Kael’s jaw tightened.

"They didn’t formally inquire because angels never formally inquire."

Her tone carried just enough contempt to make the point.

"But they sent an observer."

Rhea’s golden eyes sharpened.

"We’ve already located them."

"..."

"Two."

She continued.

"This morning, Adrián Vega disobeyed my explicit order to remain inside the building."

Adrián stayed quiet.

"He escaped with Silvano’s assistance and went to the university campus to meet his human friend, Yuki Amasawa."

Silvano didn’t react.

"During that meeting, the human informed him that she has been followed for the past three days by an unidentified entity."

The atmosphere in the office shifted.

"Description is consistent with one of three possibilities."

Rhea raised a finger.

"A mid-ranking Fallen."

A second.

"A demon belonging to a rival House."

A third.

"Or a rogue member of our own House."