NOVEL NEXT Chapter 26: Heat Wave
Lightning split the sky as if it wanted to burn the world down.
The rain wasn't falling anymore—it was slamming.
Wind slipped through cracks in the rock, pounding their soaked bodies down to the bone.
It should've been freezing.
But Lucas stopped breathing for a second.
Because of the heat that flared inside his chest—sudden, irrational, like a switch being yanked on by force.
"What… the hell is this…" he hissed.
He pressed his palm against the cave wall. The stone's cold did nothing. If anything, the pulsing in his body grew stronger—slow, deep, spreading.
A faint pressure climbed into his neck and jaw, like a too-tight collar slowly cinching closed. His hands shook once, then stilled, as if his body were negotiating with itself.
Across from him, Silvara wasn't sitting calmly.
Shoulders rigid. Jaw clenched.
Her breathing was wrong.
Not from exhaustion.
More like… her body was being forced into a mode she never agreed to.
"You feel it too?" Lucas asked.
It took her several seconds to answer.
"…Yeah."
A flash of lightning struck.
White light swept across Silvara's face—and Lucas knew: that wasn't the face of someone freezing.
That was the face of someone at war… with their own body.
Lucas swallowed.
The bread flashed through his mind.
The drink.
He clicked his tongue.
"Damn it. The bread and the wine."
Silvara let out a low growl—not angry, more like disgusted with the situation.
"If this is a joke… it's the worst joke of my life."
Lucas tried to stand straight, drew a long breath, held it, exhaled.
No change.
His heartbeat only grew heavier.
Louder.
He counted his breaths—four in, four out—like he used to after training. The rhythm cracked by the third cycle. His chest hitched, stubborn, refusing to follow orders.
The air in the cave felt oppressive, as if every inhale pulled something invisible into his lungs.
A thought tried to form and scattered. Another followed—and derailed. It was like his head had turned into a room with too many radios playing at once.
Silvara shifted half a step.
The scrape of stone sounded too loud.
Lucas instinctively turned his head.
"Don't come closer," Silvara said quickly.
The words landed too heavy for a warning. They sounded like a plea. And that made Lucas freeze harder than if she'd shouted.
Their eyes met.
And in that paper-thin pause, Lucas realized one infuriating truth:
His body was reacting to distance.
Not to her as a person.
To her closeness.
He turned his face away, cursing himself.
"Shit… this is wrong," he muttered. "All of this is wrong."
Silvara stood, then sat back down—like her legs weren't fully obeying her.
She braced against the wall, knuckles white.
"I won't," she whispered—more to herself than to him—like saying it out loud might weld her back together.
"Whatever this is…" she said low, "…we can't just ignore it."
Lucas nodded slowly.
"And it's not something we can fix fast."
He took one step back, closer to the mouth of the cave.
Rain sprayed onto his face.
Didn't help.
The heat stayed inside.
Alive.
Searching for an outlet.
Lucas closed his eyes.
System.
Normally one thought was enough.
Now?
Nothing.
Then—
[DING…]
[Connection Error]
[External interference detected. System temporarily inaccessible.]
Lucas's eyes snapped open.
"Are you serious right now?" he hissed. "Your timing is always absolute shit."
He scrubbed his face roughly.
Silvara let out a short, humorless laugh.
"Who are you even talking to? You're insane…"
Lucas stayed silent, not in the mood to argue.
Lightning struck closer.
The cave shook.
Fine dust fell from the ceiling.
He looked over.
Silvara was still in her spot.
Tense, silent—barely holding it together.
"Listen to me," Lucas said quietly. "One more step and we won't get it back."
For a heartbeat, she did listen.
Lucas drew a long breath.
"…This cave is too damn small," he muttered.
Silvara lifted her face.
"Just noticing?"
They locked eyes.
For too long.
She braced harder against the wall, jaw clenched, breath quivering—like she was trying to nail herself to the rock.
For one impossible second, she actually held it—the tremor stilled, her breath locked—then everything cracked at once.
Suddenly Silvara swayed.
Her knees buckled; she dropped forward into a crawl.
Hands braced on the floor, body trembling.
Lucas instinctively stepped toward her.
"Silvara—?!"
"Don't…" Her voice was hoarse, almost breaking. "Don't come near… I… I can't hold it…"
But her words died halfway.
Her thighs started rubbing together on their own, hard, unable to stop.
The slick sound echoed clearly in the silent cave.
Her face flushed crimson, eyes glassy, breath coming in ragged gasps.
She crawled one step forward.
Then another.
Slow, but inevitable.
Lucas immediately backed up until his back hit the wall.
"Silvara… stop… I'm serious—"
Silvara didn't answer.
She just lifted her face—eyes vacant, lips parted.
Clear fluid was already dripping from between her legs onto the stone floor.
She stopped right in front of Lucas.
Only a handspan away.
Her hot breath blew directly against Lucas's pants, which were already painfully tight.
He knew this would leave a mark. Maybe not observed. But permanent.
One second of silence.
Then she said just one sentence, voice barely there:
"…Help me."
Silvara's trembling fingers hooked into Lucas's belt, metal clinking once before the soaked leather gave way. Her breath scorched against his skin as the fabric parted, hot, desperate, no space left for shame.
The fingers of the cynical knight began to grip the waistband of Lucas's pants. With ragged breaths, she yanked them down forcefully.
BRUGHHH....
Lucas toppled over, his butt hitting the cold cave floor directly. Breathing irregularly, he stared at Silvara, who was still pulling his pants off.
His masculine pride felt wounded and instinctively wanted to fight back. Lucas sat up, his left hand reaching out to grab Silvara's breast.
SMACK...
Silvara blocked it instantly, then pushed Lucas back down onto the floor. She pulled his left arm aside with her own left hand, as though the two of them were dancing in a tangled, overlapping embrace.
Silvara's face drew closer to Lucas's. Her warm breath brushed against his skin like a gentle greeting; their noses touched, and then—