The air was thick with betrayal. Zyriel had just dropped her bombshell, and her words still hung in the room. Anos and Zayren, throats tight, watched Klaus, whose silence was scarier than any shout. The veins on his arm bulged like they might snap, but his face stayed cold as ice.
"You screwed everything up, Zyriel," he said, each word sharp. "Worse than I thought."
Zayren jumped forward, putting himself between Klaus and his sister, fists clenched, breath short. "Klaus, chill," he rasped. "She can fix this, right?"
A purple aura flared from him, crackling like a contained storm. Klaus's eyes flicked to him, his voice softer but deadly cold. "Zayren, you can be dumb sometimes, but not dumb enough to think stepping in will change her punishment."
The floor felt heavier under their feet. Anos, still in the shadows, watched, fingers gripping a chair's back. Zayren hesitated, glancing from Klaus to Zyriel, then stepped aside, jaw tight, leaving his sister to face Klaus alone.
