Seris could feel it too—the whispers, the eyes, the tension of gods who feared her potential.
But something unexpected stirred within Mason: fear. Not for himself—he had faced gods, demons, and immortals for millennia.
Fear for her.
Because she had done what no one else ever had: she had resisted him fully, using her first surge of power to defy his will, and for the first time in countless centuries, Mason realized that Seris could scare him.
He was the predator, and she—still mortal—had grown sharp enough to cut him, even if only slightly.
And he would not forgive it.
Obsession, already fierce, now deepened.
The Abyss trembled around them, a silent witness to the beginning of a war:
Between lovers. Between gods. Between obsession and defiance.
And in the shadows, ancient forces stirred, waiting for the moment to strike.