(Apollo & Adelaide)
The chamber no longer felt like a room. It felt like a threshold.
The runes carved into the floor pulsed in uneven rhythm, no longer obeying a single master but reacting—listening. Old magic stirred beneath newer spells, something half-awake and irritated at being rushed into relevance.
Hell itself seemed undecided whether this moment was punishment or coronation.
The braziers burned lower, their flames bending inward, as though reluctant to witness what was unfolding—or compelled to remember it.
Adelaide’s breath was still jagged. Her belly still fluttery, her body still shaking with the aftershock from the abrupt, violent climax he’d ripped her awake with.
She felt him move — heat, breath, presence — but she couldn’t lift her head yet. She tried to gather h
