Theo's expression fractured. For a heartbeat, the hollow void in his eyes flickered with something dangerously close to terror—the raw, primal recognition that the physics of his reality had just been rewritten without his permission.
"I read it," Rex said, stepping forward into the amber glow.
His voice was unnervingly calm, cutting through the oppressive silence of the frozen city like a scalpel. "The divine signature."
"The specific harmonic frequency of the temporal domain's authority invested in a mortal vessel... I can see the way your soul bleeds gold."
Rex studied Theo with the flat, patient attention of a scholar examining a rare specimen. There was no malice in his gaze, no righteous fury, only a terrifyingly detached curiosity.
"I have been waiting for Kaeleth to make this move since I became aware of his operation... I simply did not predict he would choose you as his scalpel."
"Does it matter?" Theo spat.
