The girl's breath hitched as Liam's grip tightened against her throat. Her hands rose instinctively, fingers clawing at his wrist, but she couldn't pry him off. His strength was immovable — like steel clamped against her flesh.
Her violet eyes glowed faintly in the gloom, wide with disbelief. No one had ever caught her like this before. Not even cultivators years ahead of her realm. And yet this man — this mortal — had pinned her as though she were a child.
"Answer me," Liam said coldly, his voice even but sharp. "Why are you following me?"
She trembled but forced her lips to move. "I… I wasn't—"
Liam squeezed just slightly, cutting her words into a choked gasp. He leaned close, his eyes like blades. "Don't lie. Not to me."
Her pulse thundered in her neck, against his fingers. For a moment, silence stretched between them, broken only by her struggling breath and the distant cries of merchants down the street.
