Chapter 18 · Run on Shared Pain

"Don't move, Kaelen. The next step tears your soul out." Lyra's palm slammed against my chest, and the silver mark on her wrist lit up between us.

The force behind it threw me into the black stone wall. My shadow spread under my feet, but it didn't catch me fast enough. Pain cracked through my ribs.

"You could've started with hello," I said.

"I did. You ignored me."

"I was busy trying not to die."

"Then listen better."

She kept one hand against me. Her fingers were warm through my torn shirt. The rest of her was shaking, though her face stayed hard and calm.

Behind her, the soul sluice groaned.

It was a round pit cut into the floor, filled with pale blue light and slow-moving shapes. Faces surfaced in the glow, mouths open, eyes blind. Every few seconds, the runes around the pit pulsed, and one of those faces vanished beneath the light.

The chamber stole a soul each time the pulse hit.

Lyra's silver mark flashed again.

She gasped.

A thin line of blood ran from her nose.

"What did you do?" I grabbed her wrist.

"Nothing."

"Try again."

"I said nothing. The sluice knows I'm here."