"You managed to avoid it just in time. Interesting."
Caelen's voice was light—bored, almost—as if he hadn't just hurled a dagger at Eli's face like it was part of a morning routine.
Eli couldn't speak. His chest rose and fell in panicked rhythm, heart hammering so hard it echoed in his ears.
From the corner of his vision, he spotted Arman, Punzo, and Jabby.
None of them looked shocked.
No gasps. No outbursts. No attempts to stop Caelen.
They expected it.
This wasn't some spur-of-the-moment test.
'Is he... Is he…' The thought wouldn't finish itself. It couldn't. Because the implications were too terrifying.
The fact that his danger detection activated at all—meant Caelen meant to hurt him.
Maybe even kill him.
Eli hadn't felt a flicker of warning when he was being kidnapped. Not a tremor when they grabbed him.
But now?
Now the air around Caelen was charged like a live wire. Every instinct in Eli's body screamed run.