After the god damn interview, a hand seized his arm.
"Come with me," Augustus said.
The Viscount's voice carried no warmth. Just command. The kind that could make a lesser man kneel without realizing it.
Aiden followed without a word. The two of them walked in silence, boots echoing against the wet floor, the sound swallowed by the endless hum of the citadel at night.
They stopped only when they reached a deserted corner near the outer wall, where the torchlight burned low and the windows rattled with wind.
That was where Augustus turned, his expression half-hidden in shadow.
"Tell me something, Aiden," he said quietly. Too quietly. "What you said earlier… about that pact—was it true?"
Aiden hesitated. His throat felt dry.
"…Yes."
"Why?" The word came out like a blade. "Why in the gods' names would you do something like that? Do you even understand what you've unleashed?"
