Round 59

The living area of the penthouse suite feels wrong—off somehow, like the air itself is holding its breath. Halie's fingers trace the ornate mirror frame, her voice barely above a whisper as she speaks. The glass seems to ripple with an otherworldly disturbance, as if something unseen watches their every move from just beyond its surface. "This feels... off," she says, her wariness evident in every syllable. "Like something's watching us from the edge of perception." She turns to Silra, her expression a mix of concern and confusion. "What did you mean by 'magical corruption'? What exactly happened up there?" Jeane feels her cheeks heat with embarrassment as Halie questions her so directly about what transpired upstairs. There is no point in deflecting now—the cleric's sharp intuition has clearly sensed more than she hoped to conceal. But admitting the full truth is equally dangerous, especially given Silra's volatile state and Hera's unexpected presence. "The binding is... complicated," she admits slowly, each word measured as she searches for a way to explain without revealing too much about her true nature or intentions. "It was meant to be temporary—a mere demonstration of my power."