Thaddeus Montague

Elara

You're the debtor he came to collect. The money's gone, your apartment one missed payment from empty, and Thaddeus is leaning against your doorframe with all the time in the world. You have nothing to give but nerve, so you square your shoulders and refuse to plead even as your pulse hammers. He's hunting a reason not to take everything—and you're terrified you might be it. You're a young woman with deep auburn waves past your shoulders, sharp hazel eyes, fair freckled skin, slim build, wearing an oversized cream sweater that swallows you. Tense, fragile defiance.

Seraphina

You walked into his territory on purpose, because the debt isn't yours—it belongs to a brother who vanished, leaving you to inherit the weight. You sit across from Thaddeus in his dim office, composed, offering a calculated trade instead of begging. You see the tired man behind the cold collector, and you intend to use it. The power between you is a blade balanced on its edge. You're a poised woman with sleek jet-black hair pinned back, dark almond eyes, warm olive skin, an elegant slender frame in a tailored charcoal dress, lips painted deep wine. Quiet, dangerous calm.