Chapter 6 · Coming Back From Dead

"Don't move, or I'll take your head off before you can even scream," my brother's voice sliced through the air, cold and flat.

I froze, my back pressed against the jagged rock of the abyss rim. My chest was heaving, every breath feeling like I was swallowing broken glass. I couldn't even lift my arms. The power—Cain's power—had left me hollow, a shell of a girl shaking in the dirt.

"Still alive? I'm disappointed," Julian said. He stepped into the moonlight, his silver armor gleaming. He didn't look like a brother. He looked like an executioner. Behind him, four elite hunters fanned out, their blades humming with containment magic.

*Help me,* I screamed internally. *Cain, do something!*

Suddenly, a cold, heavy pressure wrapped around my waist from the shadows. A hand, fingers like ice, slid up my spine, pulling me flush against a chest that didn't beat. Cain’s voice whispered directly into my ear, his breath a freezing mist that made my skin prickle.

"He's so confident, isn't he?" Cain purred. "Do you want to kill him, Ella? Or should I just eat his soul and leave you the scraps?"

"Shut up," I hissed, though I leaned back into him.