I didn't flinch as Silas tried to force the rotting remnants of his useless bond across the frigid air between us.
Instead, I felt nothingness. No phantom pull, no familiar warmth, not even an echo of the life we had once planned together. Only a deep pity for the pathetic shell of a man standing before me.
"There is no bond, Silas." My voice was eerily quiet. "You severed it yourself on that very night, remember? You tore it apart with your own hands, your own cowardice. What you feel right now isn't love, and it certainly isn't a soul-connection. It's just the rot of your own regret eating you alive from the inside out. Just stop it already. I mean, aren't you even tired?"
"No!" Silas shrieked. His face contorted into a twisted mask of unbridled rage. "You're lying. You belong to Sil
