Chapter 183: Red Trail
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Sekhmet raised one brow. "You."
Lily’s smile widened in a dangerous, pleased way.
"Yes," she said. "Me. I already told Father I am going later, not now. He used his serious face. I used my daughter face. I won one more round."
Sekhmet stared at her.
"You negotiated with the City Lord."
Lily placed one hand dramatically against her chest.
"I am his daughter," she said. "That means I have trained for this battle my entire life."
That one actually pulled a faint smile from him.
Lily saw it and looked inappropriately proud.
"There," she said. "That face. Keep that face. If I am delaying my future for your auction, you owe me at least one human expression a day."
Sekhmet leaned back slightly.
"That sounds like extortion."
"It is," Lily replied. "You are finally learning."
There was a knock at the door. A servant entered carefully, bowed, and spoke to Lily first.
"Young miss," the servant said, "your carriage is ready."
Lily’s face fell a little. Too fast for anyone except Sekhmet to notice. She straightened immediately.
"Good," she said.
The servant bowed again and withdrew.
Lily looked back at Sekhmet. "I have to go."
"Yes." Sekhmet replied.
She lingered. Not awkwardly. Just... a little too long for someone who truly wanted to leave quickly. Then she stepped closer to the desk.
"When I come tomorrow," she said, "you will show me which items you picked."
Sekhmet looked at her.
"Why."
"Because I want to know if your taste is terrible," Lily replied.
"It is not."
"That confidence alone suggests it might be."
Sekhmet almost answered, but she was already smiling again, and he let the moment sit as it was.
Lily’s gaze softened.
"Next week," she said quietly. "Do not let your enemies ruin it."
Sekhmet’s voice stayed calm, steady, the same tone he used when he meant something too much to decorate it.
"I won’t."
Lily nodded. Then she turned and left. The study door closed softly behind her.
Sekhmet sat in the quiet for a few seconds after she was gone. Then he reopened the system display.
The ten chosen auction items returned above the desk. He looked at them all again, but now the decision carried a sharper edge.
This was not just about money. Not just about business survival. Not even just about reputation. It was about proving that Dawn House still stood. That he still stood.
And that anyone trying to make his auction into a graveyard would discover that he had already started building kingdoms in places they could not even see.
Sekhmet began rearranging the final order by hand, his voice low, measured, speaking to the system as if issuing commands to a silent staff.
"The ring appears in the middle. The bracers after the spear. The anklets close near the end. The warblade is not first. It needs more buildup."
The system adjusted instantly. He continued working.
Outside, Slik City moved toward another day of rumor and trade.
Inside Dawn House, the void land held a finished shelter, Auri had a roof, and the corpse of a dead half-god remained hidden in darkness where no buyer could smell it.
And somewhere in the city, Iron House was still planning. But now Sekhmet had what he needed.
Ten items. One stage. One week. And no intention of letting anyone else write the story of his house for him.
Meanwhile.... Somewhere near the lower domain did not sleep kindly.
Even the places that looked peaceful at dusk carried a wrongness under the surface, as if the land itself had learned too much suffering to ever truly rest. Villages built near trade routes survived by caution, not comfort. They built fences. They lit boundary fires. They kept dogs. They posted watches on rough wooden towers and called that safety.
Safety was a word mortals invented to help themselves breathe.
Tonight, safety was a lie.
A small village crouched between dead fields and a crooked line of black trees, seven days’ hard travel from Slik if one moved by normal roads. It was the kind of place large powers ignored. Too poor to be worth ruling directly. Too stubborn to die quietly. A stop for caravans in better seasons. A hiding place for drifters in worse ones.
Its people had gone to sleep believing distance protected them.
Distance had only made them easier to choose.
The fires around the village burned low. Not extinguished. Just neglected by tired hands. A dog tied near a grain shed lifted its head suddenly and made a small uncertain sound deep in its throat.
Then it went silent.
Not because something touched it.
Because something stepped into the outer dark and the animal’s instincts forgot how to make noise.
Three figures emerged from the tree line.
They did not rush. They did not crouch. They did not move like raiders afraid of being seen.
They walked openly.
Slowly.
Like beings who already knew the ending and saw no reason to hurry toward it.
Alex walked in the center.
His dark coat moved lightly against the night wind, clean and untouched by dust despite the road. His face was calm in the moonlight, almost beautiful if one ignored the complete absence of softness in it. His eyes held that same deep blood-dark gleam, not bright like a newly turned vampire, but old. Controlled. Still.
On his left walked Sofia.
Silver hair. Predatory grace. The sort of beauty that looked almost playful until one watched her too long and realized the playfulness was the mask, not the truth. She smiled faintly as she studied the village, and that smile carried the same energy as a blade being tested with a thumb.
On his right walked Natasha.
Dark hair loose over one shoulder. Eyes sharp. Her face gave away less than Sofia’s, which somehow made her more dangerous. Sofia looked like she enjoyed violence. Natasha looked like she respected it enough not to waste it.
A wind passed across the road.
The village watchman on the nearest tower lifted his head, peering into the darkness. He squinted.