The sound of the lock sliding into place beyond the sanctuary doors seemed to echo endlessly through the underground chamber, its cold metallic finality reverberating against ancient stone walls while the lingering incense smoke continued curling slowly through the dim lanternlight like something alive, thickening the air with suffocating sweetness that clung heavily against skin and breath alike.
Silvain's pulse thundered painfully beneath his ribs.
Not from fear alone.
The incense had already spread too deeply through his system, its effects sinking steadily beneath discipline and restraint with every breath he unwillingly inhaled inside the sealed sanctuary, transforming awareness itself into something dangerous as heat gathered relentlessly beneath his skin while instinct and reason began grinding violently against one another inside his mind.
