Lucas moved swiftly but carefully, tilting the vial and pouring its contents into the man's throat. The liquid shimmered as it left the glass, catching the light in fleeting sparks before disappearing past the prisoner's lips. The man swallowed involuntarily, his face twisting slightly at the unfamiliar taste, but he didn't resist. His eyes locked with Lucas's until the last drop was gone.
The moment the potion trickled down his throat, warm and sharp like fire laced with liquid lightning, something stirred within him. At first, it was so faint he almost believed it to be a cruel trick of his senses, like a phantom limb twitching in the void. But then it deepened, blooming from a subtle flicker into a vibrant pulse that spread across his chest and down into the marrow of his bones.
