Having research value doesn’t mean we want to study it.

Evelyn shifted her weight and lowered her head, slow and careless, like a leaf drifting down. Her sea-green eyes were calm as still water, yet undercurrents tugged—anger, dissatisfaction, helplessness. Her gaze brushed Hedi’s face, then slid to the corridor’s end, mind kneeling like a penitent monk in prayer.

“You can’t afford the fine for wrecking the Institute. I can’t afford a monster loose in the city, like a storm let out of its cage.”

A shadow clouded Hedi’s face, pride pricked like a thorn, but she measured the words. The Institute was imperial steel; a fight here was a sugar rush, not a cure.

“You tried to hijack my body, and now you talk like that after I caught you?”

“Dark Magic feels mood shifts like wind on chimes. The emotions pouring off you are a worn record, grinding my nerves. I only meant to help you cool down.”

“You’ve been steering me all along! Now you make it sound like it’s my fault?”

“That’s right.”

Hedi’s fist tightened; veins rose like cords, knuckles whitening, a tremor rippling up her forearm like a struck string.

“When I say ‘that’s right,’ I don’t mean you’re wrong—I mean you aren’t. We agreed to work together, so here’s the lantern in the fog: the magic guarding your mind is our key to Dark Realm Magic.”

“But you still lied.”

“With what we have now, we can’t strip off the Dark Realm Erosion. That rust won’t lift.”

“This… that? I thought—” Hedi’s brows knotted like tangled vines. “You won’t help me remove it because you can’t remove it!”

“Right now, there’s no way.”

“When we came out of the Dark Realm, you mentioned Olivia Viola. You’d already set your sights on me, hadn’t you?”

“Don’t overread it. I didn’t know your case then, but you aren’t entirely wrong. You and Selina forged deep ties in the Dark Realm; I brought up her sister to watch your tide. Before, no waves. Here, you said Selina would be hurt.”

Evelyn slid a cigarette box from her pocket and lifted it to her nose, like smelling rain. “It’s time we talked research.”

“I do have… a deep bond with Selina, and my heart twists like a knot for her sister, dragged into your lab and ground down.” Hedi drew a long breath, steadying like an archer. “That doesn’t mean I’ll be her stand-in. It sure doesn’t mean I’ll be your lab rat.”

“Don’t swing so hard to extremes.”

“Isn’t that your aim? Study Olivia, make Selina sad, so hey—study me instead?”

Evelyn shook her head, light as a willow. “I want a long-term partnership—to find a cure for Dark Realm Erosion. Before that, I need Dark Realm Magic. Don’t take it wrong; we can sail both rivers at once.”

“We both know which stream you’ll paddle first.”

“Both, Melvina.”

“So now you pull out a contract?”

“A contract?”

“Four little words: ‘I consent to research’?”

“I didn’t prepare that.”

“But you prepared everything else, didn’t you?”

“Yes. Talking Dark Realm Magic, mentioning Olivia—your reaction now is right on my map.”

“If I beat you up here, is that off the map?”

“If you truly meant it, you wouldn’t announce it.”

Hedi’s legs coiled like springs long wound; her waist snapped forward, body twisting, and she let fly a ringing slap. Anger turned chemistry to lightning—signals sprinted in under a second—calf to thigh to core, muscle to muscle, a perfect cascade.

Smack!

Evelyn staggered, then caught herself. A red handprint rose fast, branded like a sin on pale skin.

“Still within your predictions?”

“Goddamn it, Melvina! Are you out of your mind?!”

“Yell all you want—force comes in pairs.” Hedi rubbed her palm, a sting burning like nettles. “It hurts me too.”

“Outside the Dark Realm Research Institute, how will you strip the Erosion? With your clever tricks? Or Selina, who can’t pass a written test?”

“I liked that chess-master look on you—put it back on.”

“Here’s the truth: you can only lean on the Institute. A single swing won’t fix a broken dam.”

“What’s that to me? Your face was right in front of me.”

“Tour’s over.” Evelyn reined in her temper like a skittish horse. “Think hard about my offer.”

“Practice your excuses for your subordinates. Say the mark on your face came from swatting a mosquito.”

“This is life and death.”

“Save that spiel. Stacked threats don’t work on me.” Hedi shrugged, loose as a stray breeze. “I’ll fix it my way. Don’t trouble yourself.”

“You’ll regret this.”

“Learning to carry regret is a core class in life.”

“When Dark Realm Erosion gnaws your brain, when pain breeds visions and whispers like night insects, I hope you stay this calm.”

“Stratford, I disliked you from the start. You left a rotten first impression—means your manners are mud.” Hedi sighed hard, like a gust through a door. “Self-righteous thing.”

“Self-righteous?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know.”

“Maybe I am. It has nothing to do with the topic.”

“You still want to talk cooperation? You’re joking.”

“I want you to consider my offer.”

Hedi gave a crooked grin. “Even salespeople eat a customer’s anger to make the sale. You made me this mad and still want a rebound?”

“Straight truth.”

“Great ‘straight truth.’ In the café, you hid the Dark Realm Erosion to bait me. Then you dangled Erosion data to drag me to the Dark Realm Research Institute. And here you call me ‘valuable,’ turning me into a lab rat for pills and needles.”

“Which part wasn’t true?”

“So you really want me as your lab rat?”

“We do both. Back at the café, I promised I’d help remove the Dark Realm Erosion.”

“So you’d already picked me then.” Hedi snorted, a cold puff. “What bullshit Olivia Viola—you were hunting me.”

“We can end the deal. But Selina goes back to the Institute. Investigators carry internal knowledge; that can’t spill to civilians.”

“Fine. Tell her now.”

Evelyn felt doubt prickle like frost. Even this threat didn’t bite?

No—Melvina’s just blazing mad. I might’ve underestimated her temper.