Apophis let out a low, sultry chuckle.
"I love that gaze."
Her voice sounded smooth and poisonous.
Her hand drifted forward, fingers reaching for Ben's face.
This time, Ben moved.
He caught her wrist in midair.
"You didn't answer my question," he said.
Apophis's rosy lips curled into a wider smile.
She did not look bothered at all.
Ben felt that if she wanted to break free, she could.
She simply chose not to.
Instead, she leaned in.
Their faces were now only inches apart.
"If someone kidnapped you from your home," she whispered, "tore you from everything you knew, experimented on your body, your mind… and you had the power to make them regret it, would you run back home?
Or would you make sure they suffered first?"
Ben's eyes narrowed.
He could not tell if she was lying, twisting the truth, or just planting doubt.
But he still wanted to hear more.
"Of course I'd make them pay," he said, his tone steady. "But I heard you killed innocents.
That's not justice."
