Chapter 7 · A Dirty Deal

"Did you really think I wouldn't feel a parasite trying to burrow into my soul?"

Silas didn't even turn around. His voice was a low vibration, the kind that rattled my teeth.

I froze. My finger was still hovering over the holographic 'Confirm' button. In my vision, the system was screaming—a jagged, flashing strobe of *CRITICAL FAILURE*—but the real terror was the man in front of me.

Then he moved.

Fast. Too fast.

His hand clamped over my throat and slammed me back against the cold stone wall. The impact knocked the wind out of me. My head snapped back with a dull thud.

"Let... go," I gasped, clawing at his wrist.

Silas leaned in. He was so close I could smell ozone and expensive sandalwood. His eyes weren't just cold; they were hungry. He didn't look at me like a girl. He looked at me like a specimen he wanted to peel open.

"You're a little monster, aren't you, Alice?" He murmured. His thumb pressed just hard enough against my windpipe to make my heart hammer. "Reborn, gifted with some taboo cheat code, and already trying to rob the High Inquisitor. You've got guts."

I stopped struggling.