Chapter 14 · The Day Her Mother Was Sold

"Put him down before his heart stops." I shoved Varan's shoulder, but his knees hit the black stone first.

His body folded hard. Frost crawled up the side of his neck, turning the veins beneath his skin a pale, ugly blue.

"I'm trying," I snapped.

"You're dragging a dead man into my chamber. That's not trying." Kaiser stood beside the bone altar, one hand wrapped around a bloodstained sword. "That's panic with better posture."

"Get out of my way."

"Gladly. Right after you tell me how much marrow you plan to burn this time."

Varan caught my wrist before I could reach for the tools. His fingers were cold enough to hurt.

"Sula." His voice came rough and low. "No more."

"You don't get a vote."

"I do when you're cutting yourself open for me."

"Then stop dying on my floor."

His mouth pulled tight. Even half-frozen, he still looked dangerous. The man had walked through battlefields with arrows in his ribs. Now one touch from me made his hand shake.

That scared me more than the bone beast had.

I dropped beside him and pressed my palm to his chest.