Chapter 34 · Take It

The door was warm. Not wood-warm. Fever-warm.

Evira pressed her palm flat against it anyway. Felix was on the other side. She could hear him breathing. Fast and shallow, like something was choking him from the inside.

"Felix." Her voice came out steadier than her hands. "I'm coming in."

"Don't." His voice cracked. "Evira, don't. I can feel it. It wants you to open the door. It wants—"

Something slammed against the other side. The wood shuddered under her hand. She did not pull back.

Vivian's laugh echoed through the corridor behind her. "He is running out of time. The curse needs a host. Right now it is eating him. But you can take it instead." Her footsteps were slow, unhurried. "Or you can walk away. Let him burn out. I will consider that a forfeit. The guild will have one less loose end to worry about."

Evira turned. Vivian stood ten feet back, arms crossed, that satisfied little smile on her face. The same smile she had worn in every guild meeting. The same smile that had fooled everyone.

"You want me to take the curse," Evira said.

"I want you to choose." Vivian tilted her head.