Chapter 56 – The Lingering Taste of Sin
The night was silent, but Adrian could still hear Selene's laughter echoing in his chest. It wasn't in the cathedral anymore; it was in him. Every beat of his heart seemed to carry the sound, mocking him, reminding him.
Cassia sat beside him on the cold stone steps, her arms around his shoulders. She hadn't let go since Selene vanished, as if terrified that the moment she released him, he would dissolve into shadow.
"Adrian," she whispered. "Talk to me."
But he couldn't. His throat was dry, his tongue heavy. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Selene's face—her lips so close, her touch on his chest, the way his own hand had betrayed him by lingering on her skin instead of pushing her away.
The shard inside him pulsed like a drumbeat. He pressed his palm against his chest, trying to crush it, silence it, deny it. But the harder he pressed, the hotter it burned.
"I… almost…" His voice broke. He forced the words out anyway, as though they were knives. "Cassia… I almost gave in."
Cassia tightened her embrace, her forehead pressing against his temple. "But you didn't," she whispered fiercely. "You didn't."
He laughed, a hollow, bitter sound. "I wanted to. Gods help me, I wanted to."
The admission cracked the air between them. Cassia flinched, but her arms did not falter. She held him as if the strength of her grip could keep him tethered to himself.
"You're human," she said softly, though her voice shook. "Even heroes stumble. Even you. That doesn't make you hers."
Adrian shut his eyes, but behind his lids was only heat—Selene's touch, Selene's voice, the flood of forbidden pleasure that had nearly drowned him. He could still feel it, like a phantom sensation haunting his skin. And worse than the shame was the truth he couldn't deny: some part of him craved to feel it again.
He shivered, pulling away from Cassia. He needed space—space to breathe, space to hide from her eyes that saw too much. He stood, staggering down the cathedral steps into the moonlight. The red moon hung heavy in the sky, staining everything with its cruel glow.
The shard pulsed harder beneath it, as if drinking the moonlight directly into his veins. His breath came faster. His thoughts tangled. She's still inside me… she'll always be inside me…
"Adrian," Cassia called, her voice tight with worry. She rose to follow, but he held up a hand.
"Don't," he said sharply, then softened. "Please… just stay there."
She froze, torn between obeying and rushing to him. Her eyes glistened, but she nodded slowly.
Adrian gripped the railing, knuckles white. "I thought I could fight it. I thought I was strong enough. But tonight…" He looked up at the moon, his voice breaking. "Tonight I felt it. The hunger. The… the sweetness of falling. Gods, Cassia, it felt good."
The confession tore from him like blood from an open wound.
Cassia's face twisted in pain, but she didn't look away. "Then let me be your anchor. If the shard tempts you, then hold on to me instead. If you're weak, then I'll be strong enough for both of us."
Her words burned into him, but so did the shard's pulse. And in that moment, Adrian realized the cruelest truth: the shard didn't only feed on lust. It fed on the guilt after. On the shame. On the tears in Cassia's eyes.
He staggered back, horrified. "It wants me to fail. Every stumble makes it stronger. Every moment I crave her… it wins."
Cassia's fists clenched, her voice rising with anger. "Then we'll starve it. Together. No matter how many times you fall, I'll pull you back."
Adrian wanted to believe her. Gods, he wanted to. But his body still ached with the memory of Selene's touch, and some part of him longed to feel it again. That part terrified him more than any enemy.
He pressed his forehead to the cold stone pillar, his voice breaking into a whisper. "What if next time, I don't want to resist?"
The silence after was deafening.
Cassia stepped forward despite his plea, placing her hand gently on his back. "Then I'll remind you who you are," she whispered fiercely. "Even if I have to drag you back from her arms. Even if it kills me."
Her words cut deeper than Selene's temptation ever could. Adrian trembled, torn between the fire inside him and the love that held him from the outside.
And in the shadows of the cathedral ruins, unseen, Selene's voice purred like a serpent's promise:
"He already craves me. Every denial only makes him hunger more. One day, Cassia, you'll watch him come to me willingly."
Adrian gasped, clutching his chest as the shard burned hotter, almost as if agreeing with her.
And for the first time since the shard had bound itself to him, Adrian truly feared not just Selene… but himself.