Chapter 35 · The Uninvited Guest

"You're playing house in a graveyard, Cane. It's almost cute."

Augustus didn't walk into the Void; he tore through it. The air snapped like a whip, leaving a jagged, bleeding rift in the gray sky of my domain. He stepped out of the tear with a smirk that made me want to rip his throat out. He looked too clean, too polished—white robes that didn't belong in a place built from screams.

I didn't move. I didn't have to. I just tightened my grip on Selena's waist, pulling her flush against my side. I felt her shudder, her breath hitching against my chest. She was trembling, but she didn't pull away. That was the part that tasted better than any nightmare I'd ever eaten.

"Get out," I said. My voice wasn't a shout. It was a low vibration that made the ground beneath Augustus's boots crack.

"Now, now. Is that any way to greet an old friend?" Augustus took a step forward, his eyes scanning the horizon of my dark empire with a look of pure disgust. "I expected a fortress of terror. Instead, I find you clutching onto a broken Saintess like she's a security blanket.