Eve
Sanctum Core
Midnight and a Breath
The world narrowed around us—sight, sound, breath collapsing into stillness. My heart thundered in my ears, but even that felt distant, like I was underwater in my own body.
The Fenrir's Marker was no longer dormant. It moved.
Threading.
Climbing.
Creeping through the marrow of my bones with a chill that wasn't cold. Not pain, but pressure. Like something ancient was waking—and choosing.
Across from me, the thing in Hades' skin tilted his head. Vassir. Still cloaked in shadow, still using his voice, his face. But now, flickers of unease sharpened in his eyes—dark and wide, trying to mask confusion as anticipation.
He thought this was the beginning of the bond he'd craved. Of control. Of her.
"Say the words," he said softly, his fingers brushing the space near my collarbone. "Seal it, and we'll be everything they feared."
The shadows around him twitched, coiled—ready.
But so did the Marker.
I opened my mouth to answer.
