"You're missing the point," says Melek, and he falls into step with Devin, smiling with inappropriate sharpness. He's almost of a height with the no-heartbeat man, but slighter, and his posture is angled, off-kilter. And he's still definitely inside Devin's personal space. "A threat's an if-then promise. If someone does this, then you murder them horribly, see? Rip a hand off, whichever. It's in the intent. If you don't intend to follow though..."

He shrugs. The movement is liquid, and oddly disjointed for a second or two. "Then it's just bluffing. So. Were you bluffing?"