Chapter 32 · Afterglow of Betrayal

"Get your hands off me!"

Viviane screamed, shoving Silas back. He hit the stone wall hard, but he didn't even try to find his balance. He was staring.

His eyes were locked on her ribs, where her tunic had shifted. A purple mark. Jagged. Pulsing. It wasn't a tattoo. It was a leash.

"What the hell is that?" Silas spat, his voice raw. "The Soul-Bind? You're wearing a forbidden mark? You literally burn people alive for having that on their skin!"

Viviane scrambled back, her spine hitting the heavy iron vault door. She didn't look like the terrifying judge of the Holy See anymore. She looked like a girl caught in a lie that ended in execution. She clutched her clothes tight, knuckles white.

"It's nothing," she snapped. Her voice trembled. "An old injury. Border wars. Stop looking at me like that."

"Don't lie to me!"

Silas lunged. He grabbed her wrist and pinned it against the door. The metal was ice; her skin was fire. "I know what a Soul-Bind looks like. I've seen the archives. Who did this to you? Who owns you?"

Viviane stopped fighting. The mask of the High Inquisitor shattered, leaving nothing but naked terror.