Chapter 17 · Burn It Down

"Drop the pendant, little girl, and maybe I'll let you bleed out in peace."

The voice didn't just hit my ears; it vibrated in my chest, heavy and cold. I didn't open my eyes. I couldn't. My lungs felt like they were filled with wet concrete, and every heartbeat was a jagged needle scraping against my ribs. But I could feel the jade pendant clutched in my palm, the only thing keeping me anchored to the world.

"She isn't dropping a damn thing," a low, dangerous snarl echoed beside me.

Cain. He was standing over me, his presence like a wall of freezing shadow. I could feel the temperature drop ten degrees. The air grew thick, tasting of ozone and old blood. He wasn't just protecting me; he was marking me.

"The Abyss Lord," the stranger chuckled. I heard a slow, deliberate footstep. Crunch. Broken glass. "Still playing bodyguard to a dying spark? How pathetic. Give me the relic, Cain. You know you can't sustain her and fight me at the same time."

"Try me," Cain spat.

I forced my eyelids open. The world was a blur of gray and gold. Above me, Cain looked like a god of ruins.