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Ki’Remi huffed. ‘The flat structure of the Riders grows more desirable by the second.’

Zavei ignored the merriment as he bore down on Issa, his gaze piercing.

‘The Sanopic Jar,’ he commanded. ‘Now.’

A chorus of whispers slithered through the air. The celestial host was now intrigued, abandoning their goblets, plates, and conversations.

Issa exhaled and rose to her feet.

She let the silence stretch, then, lifting her chin, her voice rang out with quiet steel.

‘I made a vow, and as I told you before, I will present the Sanopic vessel to Sulfiqar alone.’

A murmur rippled through the crowd.

Zavei’s lips curled at the edges, his ethereal robes fluttering.

‘You think to defy me, Issandra?’

Issa’s jaw tightened. ‘Nada. I only honor my word. You, of all immortals, know the Most Divine Deity would be most displeased if I altered my stance.’

Zavei’s eyes flickered.

His fingers flexed, the space around him distorting high above him, as a streak of lightning arcing in a warning.

‘I am his close advisor and defender. He asked me to fetch it, and the Divine Immortal wearies of waiting,’ he rumbled, his voice like distant thunder.

He lifted a hand as if to smite her.

Ki’Remi sucked his teeth and surged forward without hesitation to stand between the pair.

He raised his chin at eye level with the deific sentinel, eyes gleaming with ill omen, his honeyed skin lit by the otherworldly glow of his shifting tattoos.

‘You want her?’ Ki’Remi’s growl was cutting, a blade unsheathed. ‘You go through me.’

The celestial host stilled, their flickering wings dimming, their collective breath hitching.

Zavei’s expression shifted.

His scrutiny deepened, raking Ki’Remi’s face with a smirk of disdain as if peeling back layers, searching for what sat behind his cockiness.

His brow furrowed as his eyes narrowed as Ki’Remi released a split second of witchmen power.

It arced in the Rider’s eyes with undying, primordial menace.

Ki’Remi let it roil for a beat more, so the guardian of the Divine Immortal glimpsed the improbable, the unassimilable beneath the Sableman’s controlled facade.

Along with the logic and discipline, as well as his churning metanoids.

Zavei inclined his head, the quirk on his lips now laced with intrigue and a trace of wariness.

‘Not just a mere human, then? What are you?’

Ki’Remi chose silence, arching his brow, his chin raised in a challenge.

Zavei canted his gaze to Issa.

‘Well played, Issa. Tis poetic justice. In my arrogance, I thought this creature was mortal, which only allowed you to slip in a formidable secret weapon, ay?’