Chapter 23 · The Heir Slips

"Don't touch that."

Kael's voice comes out wrong. Too low. Too sharp. Like something with teeth is using his mouth.

I freeze with my hand halfway to the steel case Milo left on the kitchen island. The one with the cracked blood seal still smoking at the edges.

"I wasn't going to," I say, pulling my hand back slow. "Just wanted to see what your brother bled all over before he bailed."

"Liar."

He's standing in the doorway to the safehouse living room, backlit by the city glow through the floor-to-ceiling windows. I can't see his face. Just the shape of him, too still, shoulders too tight.

"You good?" I ask.

He doesn't answer.

That's when I notice the black veins crawling up the left side of his neck. They weren't there ten minutes ago when he shoved Milo out the hidden gate. Now they're branching under his jaw like cracks in glass.

"Kael."

"Stay there."

He takes a step into the kitchen. The pendant lights flicker. One of them pops, raining glass onto the marble counter.

"What's happening?" I keep my voice steady.