Death Contract

ht was

quiet that pressed against Caius's ears, thick and h

ear everyt

rag of his fingers over the stone altar, the steady inhale

cts. No distant murmurs of the

d narrowed t

d at his sides. The hunger was there-coiled deep in his chest, a

g else warre

sita

ho he had been

's dying braziers. His face was serene, untouched by doubt, by fear. He car

jaw ti

not unto

ng him forward, and for the first t

efore Caius ev

ar. Not out o

t of k

he air in a sharp, golden arc. Caius barely had time to twist away-the force of it split the sto

d wasn't just

s a w

led into a snarl

ided like

otherworldly. His strikes were not the practiced blows of a swords

because he believed

ake him belie

nnected with his ribs, some

in p

aliza

. It should have forced the air f

it d

beneath his skin, absorbing the impact, dispers

w body did

ven think, his instincts sharper, refined, as if the co

saw i

time, the He

s di

us's chest, and the divine pr

om his lips. He lifted a hand, summoning t

did no

not h

ade through Dar

rld st

ed breath that tore from Darius's throat. His go

th dis

r thought h

morta

y his

his body trembled, and the life bled

ze until the ligh

he let

gh him the moment Dariu

freezing his veins, coiling around hi

soul had b

er in hi

ace, somethin

ing fa

not a voice, not a word, but a

aph

ece of her h

fuele