She brought him back to the turn before throwing him forcibly into a narrow alley that was just before it. At that moment, he wanted to shout in order to alert the guards but something stopped him. Cold lips pressed heavily against his, forcing their barrier insistently.

 

Straddling him, Ciar firmly kept him in her grasp even if he wasn't fighting anymore because of the surprise and the novelty of these sensations. However, he was still reluctant to open his mouth, which seemed to be the goal of the young woman. She was indeed a young woman. Now that he was so close to her, he could see what was under the hood and, despite her strange skin, her features were as human as her piercing eyes.

 

This finding finished his defenses and he gave in. He felt a cold and slimy liquid crept down his throat which seemed to come from Ciar herself. Despite the unpleasant sensation and the visceral fear of poisoning, he was forced to shallow if he wanted to avoid choking. She released him only at this moment before sitting down beside him but he was unable to see it.

 

The shadow seeped into him and eventually hatched when it possessed him wholly. Helpless, he felt as if a cold liquid ran through each of his veins. His dilated pupils were blind, the sounds reached him only as discordant jerks and he was unable to feel what could be around him. He tried to move but he couldn't as the pain was unbearable.

 

He tried to scream but his voice remained blocked at the back of his throat. Despair eventually crept in and he found himself to hope again after the light of the Veil. He began to understand the extent of his losses and he regretted that he didn't see before what he had. His ordeal finally ended when he lost consciousness.

 

When he woke up, the pain was gone and he had recovered his senses. But, even so, something had changed in him. Everything seemed different around him and he enjoyed the light of the Veil for the first time of his life. After a moment of self-reflection, he got back on his feet and looked at Ciar who waited for him patiently.

 

-Take me back to Cahal, he found himself asking with a hoarse voice, numbed by the shadow.

 

They returned to the elevator and they didn't have to wait long before the face of Cahal appeared. Ciar then spoke in a low voice for the first time.

 

-He knows.

-… It would have been better if he drank at the source, but I guess there was no other choice.

 

Hayden advanced while performing specific commands on the panel to take them down.

 

-This is what you wanted me to understand ?

-Yes. Don't you think now it's worth taking the risk ?

 

Hayden didn't answer, he knew that he didn't need to. Deep inside him, the more he thought about it, the more he was sure of the path to take. He wanted to know more, he wanted to feel more and he wanted the rest of the city to also know about these feelings. He didn't see until now how much he despised the inertia of Cinaed. And yet... it was also synonymous of safety. Was he really willing to sacrifice it for his own desire ?