I swallowed past the nerves tightening my throat, lifting my chin defiantly and deciding, on the spot, to pretend she hadn’t caught me off guard. I doubted I was overly successful, but she wasn’t looking at me, so that worked in my favor. “Don’t pretend you don’t know where we’re headed.”

I’d mostly avoided bumping into her around the palace, even after all this time. I’d see her lurking around, seemingly uninterested in what transpired around her unless it involved blood, but I knew she saw absolutely everything, and she only stayed out of my way because it suited her to do so. Why she’d decided to target me over this particular event, I could only guess, but as always, her laugh convinced me that her purpose was to tease.

Or lord her awareness of my every step over me.

“You’re right,” she said, finally gazing over at me, her black eyes filled with mischief. My belly swooped. Triple fuck. “You are smart, aren’t you? For a human. I’m surprised you’re my idiot brother’s perfect match.”

I let out a slow breath through my nose, composing myself. There was no point giving up the pretense now. If I could make her believe I was unfazed by her having information on me, she might let it go. Might being the operative word. “Can I help you with something, or are you just here to insult my mate?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

“Let me know when you do,” I snarked, then shifted forward, intent on walking past her to have a meltdown over everything being ruined in peace, but she quickly shoved off the wall, sorta blocking the way. Despite my best attempts at resolve, my heartbeat picked up the pace, and I once again gulped past the dryness in my throat. She wasn’t exactly confining me to the hall, but her eerily smooth and snakelike body language had me rooted to the spot.

I was almost thirty percent sure she wouldn’t hurt me. She had no reason to, other than scoring points against Cair, but even then, she struck me as the type to know when to pick her battles. I wasn’t worth the aggravation of the aftermath.

At least, I hoped I wasn’t.

She pinched the tip of her dagger’s blade between her fingers and rocked it back and forth. Suddenly, a dash of electricity bounced off its edges before disappearing. My eyes widened, zeroing in on the action and wondering if I’d imagined it. She clocked my interest and her smirk grew. “Do you like it?”