Noah hadn't sensed her at all.
That was the part that unsettled him more than the hand on his shoulder.
His senses were not ordinary. He could feel mana signatures through walls and track presences across distances that would have been hard for any normal mage.
And yet Daisy had crossed the room, closed the distance, and taken hold of his shoulder without registering as anything more than empty air until the moment of contact.
He moved instantly, throwing his weight forward and pulling hard.
The ice came up from the floor before he'd completed the motion, Arlo's hands already raised, the cold spreading outwards from Noah's feet and climbing his legs in an instant, locking him in place.
At the same time, Daisy's grip tightened and anchored him in place.
He couldn't shake free without destroying Arlo's ice, and he couldn't teleport with her hand still attached to his shoulder. She would simply be teleported with him, which was worse than staying.
