Cain's body moved before his thoughts could even begin to form, as if something deep inside him had already decided what mattered most in that moment, as if instinct had taken control and left no space for doubt, hesitation, or reason.
"My wives…!"
The words tore out of his throat, raw and uneven, carrying the weight of fear that had not yet left him, his voice trembling as though it had been dragged out of a place too deep for him to properly understand. His eyes darted wildly across the room, searching, desperate, almost frantic, as if he expected everything around him to crumble at any second.
"Cornelia… Ivira… Faith…!"
Each name came out heavier than the last, each one filled with urgency, with a kind of panic that could not be hidden, his chest rising and falling too quickly as his breath struggled to keep up with the storm inside him.
And then—
He saw them.
Not shadows.
Not illusions.
Not broken bodies lying in pools of blood.
They were there.
