Chapter 28 · Nightmare Resonance

"Don't look away, Selena. Look at me while you lie," Cane whispered. He didn't just move closer; he crowded her, his chest nearly brushing hers, forcing her back against the cold, jagged obsidian of the Void's altar.

Selena’s breath hitched. She tried to twist her chin away, but his hand shot up, fingers locking firmly around her jaw. Not enough to bruise, but enough to make it clear she wasn't going anywhere.

"I... I didn't..."

"Didn't what? Didn't want me to die?" Cane leaned in, his voice a low, dangerous vibration against her ear. "The Holy Maiden of Luminis, the paragon of purity, playing a double game with the gods. You told the Council I was a lost cause, yet you whispered a prayer for my soul to linger. Why?"

Selena’s eyes shimmered with a mix of terror and something that looked far too much like longing. "It wasn't for you. It was for the balance. If the Void took a soul and didn't keep it, the cycle would—"

"Stop talking like a textbook," Cane snapped, his grip tightening slightly. "I'm not in the mood for theology. I want the truth. You wanted me to survive.