“Rava.” Vivienne’s voice was low, a hiss that cut through the quiet. She shook her panion, perhaps with a little more force than necessary.

  Rava’s eyes snapped open immediately, her body jerking upright, a flicker of instinctive readiness making her pulse qui. She sed the room in rapid, searg movements, her sharp senses o.

  “We’ve got pany,” Vivienne whispered, her voice ced with a dangerous edge. She tilted her head toward the door, her lips curling into a wicked grin. “I taste... fear.” The words sent a shiver down Rava’s spine, but there was no mistaking the malicious delight in Vivieohe kind that came from someone who found power in the disfort of others.

  Rava’s hands flexed, her cws curling instinctively as her expression hardened. “Who is it?” she murmured, her gaze narrowing as she focused on the door, her muscles tensing, ready to react.

  “Don’t know,” Vivienne replied nontly, though her grin widened. “Same taste as st night when you were downstairs.”

  “You could feel that from up here?” Rava asked, a note of disbelief in her voice.

  Vivienne’s eyes glinted with mischief. “I taste the fear directed at me almost all through this vilge. It rippled out when I walked in.”

  “Huh. Wait, how far you—no, not the point. So there are people outside our door?” Rava’s voice dropped lower, her posture coiled like a spring.

  As if to punctuate her question, the door hatled. The lock held firm, but the sound was enough to firm Vivienne’s assessment. Rava’s ears twitched, her sharp hearing catg faint shuffling sounds from the hall.

  “Looks like we’ve got an audience,” Vivienne purred. Her cws lengthened with a soft scraping sound, and her grin turned predatory. “Shall we see if they’re friend or foe? I’m guessing foe. Please let it be foe.”

  Rava held up a hand, sileng Vivienne’s excitement with a firm gesture. “Hold o’s not jump straight to ripping them apart, yeah?” she whispered, her voice sharp but steady. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, moving as silently as her bulky frame would allow. Her eyes flicked to the single window in the room, assessing their options.

  Vivieilted her head, her grin unwavering. “What’s the fun in that? Besides, they rattled the door first. That’s practically an invitation.”

  “Not everyone has your appetite for... flict,” Rava muttered, creeping closer to the door. She crouched low, her ear brushing against the wood as she straio catch voiovement beyond it.

  A muffled hiss reached her ears—two people, at least, whispering just out of her full hearing rahe tone carried nervousness, a shaky edge that matched the taste Vivienne had described. Whoever they were, they weren’t soldiers. Probably just frightened vilgers emboldened by numbers—or desperation.

  “Still scared,” Vivienne said, almost dreamily, leaning against the wall as though this were all a game. “They’re not brave enough to break the door yet. Maybe I should help them along.”

  Rava turned, her gre sharp enough to cut through Vivienne’s amusement. “You stay there. We’re not turning this into a bloodbath unless we have to.”

  Vivienne sighed, her cwed fingers drumming zily against the wall. “Fine. But if they make it through, I’m not promisiraint.”

  The door rattled again, this time with a harder shake. A voice, low but firm, called from the other side. “We know what you are. Open up, and maybe we’ll make this easy for you.”

  Rava’s lip curled, a growl rumbling low in her chest. “Yeah, that’s not happening.”

  “Very foe,” Vivienne murmured, her grin spreading wider. “This is going to be fun.”

  Rava strode up to the door with the steady fidence of someone who had been in far worse situations. Her voice rang out, low and firm, with an edge sharp enough to cut through the tension in the hall. “I’d strongly suggest you all head back to your homes while you still . Things won’t go as smoothly for you as you think if you keep pushing.”

  The murmuring outside quieted for a moment, the weight of her warning sinking into the gathered crowd. But then a voice, bolder than before, shot back. “We’re not afraid of you—or the thing yht with you! People like you don’t belong here.”

  Vivie out a soft, menag chuckle from where she lounged against the wall. “Oh, Rava,” she purred, her eyes gleaming in the dim light, “they’re callihing. That’s almost charming. Almost.”

  “Shut it,” Rava growled under her breath, her hand h over the tch. She wasn’t sure what her move would be, but she knew she had to end this quickly—before Vivienne decided to escate.

  The voice outside tinued, emboldened by its own defiance. “You’ve brought dao our vilge! We’ve got children here, families—this isn’t yround! Leave now, or we’ll make you.”

  Rava rolled her shoulders, her muscles taut beh her skin. She khey didn’t really have a pn. Desperation like this always came with more han bite. But she also knew desperation could make people reckless—and dangerous.

  Vivienne pushed off the wall, her movements fluid and deliberate as she strolled toward the door. “You know,” she said lightly, her cws flexing, “I could just eat their fear and be doh this. Saves everyoime.”

  Rava shot her a gre. “You’ll do no such thing.”

  “Fine,” Vivienne sighed, though her tone held no real cession. “But if they break the door down, I’m taking it as permission.”

  The door rattled harder this time, and the sound of wood groaning urain filled the room. Rava’s ears fttened against her head, her patience wearing thin. “Last warning,” she called out, her voice ced with finality. “Turn around. Go back to your homes. You won’t like what happens if you don’t.”

  For a moment, the hallway was silent—an uneasy, fragile pause hanging in the air. Then came a loud, jarring crash. The door buckled inward, the lock barely holding as cracks spiderwebbed across the wood. The sound reverberated through the room, as if daring them to respond.

  Vivienne’s grin stretched wider, the glint of her teeth and too-many eyes almost gleaming in the dim light. “Well,” she purred, her voice dripping with malicious delight, “they’ve made their choice.”

  “Viv!” Rava she bite in her voice sharp enough to cut. “Shut it!”

  Vivieilted her head, her expression taking on a faux innoce that was anything but. “Ooh, Viv. I haven’t been called that in… well, whenever I was st alive. Are we that close now, Rava?”

  Rava groaned, dragging a hand down her face. “Could you not do this right now?”

  “Oh, but you started it.” Vivienne’s amusement didn’t waver, though her attention flicked briefly to the door as it groaned uhe strain of another hit. She cracked her knuckles, the sound unnervingly loud. “Though I’m more than happy to let them interrupt our little bonding moment.”

  Rava ighe bait and turned her focus back to the door. She stepped in front of it, pnting herself like a wall between Vivienne and the intruders. “You’re not helping.”

  “Helping wasn’t really in the job description,” Vivienne quipped. Her cws extended slightly, the sharp edges glinting. “But don’t worry, I’ll leave the talking to you. For now.”

  Rava inhaled deeply, steadying herself before calling through the door once more. “This is your st ce. Go home, or you’re not going to like how this ends.”

  The murmurs outside grew louder, mitated. It was clear the mob wasn’t ied in listening, but the uainty in their voices hi hesitation. The tension was a taut wire ready to snap.

  Vivienne leaned in, her voice dropping to a low, teasing whisper that sent a shiver down Rava’s spihink they’ll back down?”

  “Not with you standing there grinning like aherbeast,” Rava muttered, her tail flig in irritation as her ears twitched toward the door, trag every sound from the other side.

  Vivienne’s grin widened, a glint of sharp teeth visible as her te eyes glimmered with amusement. “Rava,” she said with a silky edge to her voice, “I am aherbeast.”

  Rava rolled her eyes but kept her focus on the door. “Then maybe try not to look the part for five seds.”

  “’t make any promises.” Vivienne’s cws flexed, scratg faint lines into the wooden table beside her. “But I’ll let you take the lead—for now.”

  Before Rava could respond, another loud crack splihe tense silehe doorframe groaned as the mob oher side heaved against it, emboldened by their numbers. The voice from earlier called again, louder this time. “You’ve brought something unnatural into our vilge! We won’t let you curse this pce with its presence!”

  Vivieilted her head, her grin softening into something unreadable. “Unnatural,” she repeated, as if sav the word. “They really don’t like me, do they?”

  “No one likes a smirking predator,” Rava muttered, her grip tightening on the door’s handle. Her muscles coiled, ready t. “You stay back. I’ll deal with this.”

  “Stay back?” Vivienne sounded almost offended. “Where’s the fun in that?”

  Rava didn’t dignify the ent with an answer. Instead, she wrehe door open with a sudden, decisive movement. The force of it startled the mob outside, who stumbled back a step, ons raised but hesitation clear in their eyes.

  Standing at the threshold, Rava let her eyes sweep over the small crowd—a mismatched group of vilgers wielding whatever they could find: pitchforks, rusted swords, even a spade. “This is your ce to walk away,” she said, her voice low and firm, carrying an edge that left no room fument. “I suggest you take it.”

  One of the men in the front, older and bolder than the rest, pointed a trembling hand toward Vivienne, who lounged in the shadows just behind Rava, her grin still razor-sharp. “That thing doesn’t belong here! It’s evil!”

  Rava’s ears fttened as she growled, stepping forward to shield Vivienne. “And you don’t belong in the room I paid for.” she shot back. “Go home. Now.”

  The mob wavered, their ce faltering as Vivieepped into view. She didn’t say a word; she didn’t have to. The sheer weight of her presehose predatory eyes, that unnatural aura—did the talking for her.

  The older man swallowed hard, his grip tightening ochfork in his hands. “You ’t scare us off,” he said, though the quaver in his voice betrayed him. “We’ll do what’s right.”

  Rava smirked grimly. “Doing what’s right?” She took aep forward, her cws flexing slightly. “Right now, I see a lot of scared people about to do something very stupid.”

  Vivienne chuckled softly behind her. “Oh, I like this side of you,” she murmured, her voice carrying just enough to make the vilgers flinch.

  “Shut up, Viv,” Rava snapped without turning, her focus still on the mob. “Last warning. Leave, or I promise, you’ll regret staying.”

  The vilgers hesitated, exging uain gnces. Whatever bravery they’d mustered was crag uhe weight of Rava’s resolve and Vivienne’s eerie, silent threat.

  The older man lunged, his movements driven by fear and desperation rather than skill. He was rge, his arms thick with the strength earned from years at the mills, but to Rava, he may as well have been moving through syrup. His attack was slow, predictable, amateurish.

  Rava stepped to the side with fluid precisioing his weight carry him past her. She didn’t bother drawing a on—she didn’t have o her elbow shot out, smming into the man’s ribs with a practiced force that sent him sprawling to the ground.

  He wheezed, clutg his side, but before he could get up, Rava stepped forward, her boot pnting firmly on the handle of his pitchfork. Her tail shed behind her, a sharp terpoint to her measured voice. “That was your first mistake. Don’t make another.”

  The rest of the mob hesitated, their ons faltering in trembling hands. Even with their numbers, the sight of their leader sprawled on the floor and the calm fidence of Rava’s movements was enough to sap his hen Vivieepped forward, and the st threads of ce began to unravel.

  She moved with an uling grace, her smile all sharp teeth and dark humour. “Oh, that was eaining,” she purred, her voice a smooth, mog caress. “But surely, you do better?” Her tongue darted out, that unnatural bck tendril flig briefly over her lips, a gesture that was both pyful and threatening.

  The mob recoiled, the tension in the air shifting from ao ht terror.

  “I taste it,” Vivienne said, her voice dropping into something lower, darker. “Your fear. Delicious, but not nearly enough to satisfy me.”

  “Viv!” Rava barked, her voiapping like a whip. “Enough.”

  Vivienne paused, her grin faltering for a fra of a sed. Then she sighed dramatically, throwing her hands up. “Fine. I was only having a little fun.”

  Rava’s sharp eyes sed the mob, her voice cutting through the chaos. “This is o home. Don’t make me repeat myself.”

  The vilgers hesitated, but the sight of Viviehe predator barely held in check, was enough to break them. One by ohey backed away, muttering apologies and excuses uheir breath as they retreated down the hall.

  The older man scrambled to his feet, clutg his ribs as he limped after them, shooting a hateful gre at Vivienne before disappearing around the er.

  When the sound of footsteps faded, Rava exhaled, her shoulders dropping slightly. “Well, that went about as well as I expected.”

  Vivienne ughed, a soft, amused sound. “I think it went splendidly.” She gestured zily at the y hall. “They’ll think twice before b us again.”

  “Or they’ll e back with reinforts,” Rava muttered, closing the door and sliding the lock bato pce. “I o sleep, and you’re not helping.”

  "Go to sleep, then," Vivienne said softly, the usual mischief absent. "I’ll keep watch."

  Rava hesitated, her sharp gaze flig over Vivienne before she turned onto her side, pulling the thin b up. "If you let them kill us in our sleep, I’m haunting you," she muttered.

  Vivienne chuckled, low and dark. "Deal."

  The room settled into silence, Rava’s breaths evening out as sleep cimed her. Vivieayed where she was, her sharp eyes locked on the door, cws idly tapping her knees. She tasted the air again—no more fear, just simmeriment from the vilge below. They wouldn’t e back tonight.

  Her gaze drifted briefly to Rava, curled up defensively even in sleep. Vivienne’s grin softened.

  “Sweet dreams, Rava,” she murmured to the quiet room. “I’ll hahe nightmares.”

  And she kept her vigil, still as a shadow, sharp as the edge of a bde.