Chapter 23 · Forbidden Symbiosis

"Stop fighting it, Selena. You know exactly what happens if you don't."

Cane’s voice was a low vibration against her ear, his breath hot and smelling of something cold, like old iron and winter air. He had her pinned against the jagged obsidian wall of the Void realm, his hand locked around her wrist, forcing her palm flat against the freezing stone.

Selena gasped, her chest heaving. The white silk of her priestess robes was torn at the shoulder, clinging to her skin. "This is heresy," she choked out, though her voice lacked its usual authority. "You're... you're poisoning me with this filth."

"Heresy?" Cane let out a sharp, mocking laugh. He leaned closer, his chest pressing into her back, trapping her in the narrow space. "You called it 'purification' when you threw me into this hole. Now you're worried about the purity of your soul? That's rich."

He shifted his grip, his fingers sliding up her arm. The contact sent a jolt through her—not of warmth, but of a terrifying, magnetic hunger.