~ Regis's POV ~
The voice has grown louder.
Once, it was merely a murmur. A soft whisper, like silk thread, slithered into my mind during the stillness of night. “She belongs to you.” It once came gently, like a ghost's touch on the edges of my sanity.
Now it howls.
Now it screams, a monstrous chant clawing at my skull like something feral and starved. It never quiets, not even in sleep. Not even when I drink myself into oblivion.
“She’s mine,” I breathe, eyes fixed on the hearth before me. Flames writhe like hungry serpents, gold and fierce. They consume everything, just like her.
Seraphina.
The name tastes like ash and blood.
"I won't lose her," I whispered again, my voice rough and empty.
This—this thing inside me—is not a beast. It’s not instinct.
This voice was born the mo
