Chapter 22 · The Fortress Goes Down

"Get out of me!" I clawed at the white spike buried in my chest, but the mother bone only pushed deeper.

Aileen's voice came through my mouth, smooth and cruel. "Kneel, Varan. Kneel, Kaiser. Your little sister has come home."

Varan hit the core with his shoulder. The impact cracked the stone floor under his boots. Black veins jumped across his neck as his failing marrow answered the mother bone.

"Shut your mouth," he growled.

"Not mine," I forced out.

The core pulsed inside my ribs. My knees folded. Varan caught me before I hit the floor, one arm locking around my waist while his other hand clamped over the white spike.

His palm was hot. Too hot. Blood ran between his fingers.

"Look at me, Sula." His face was inches from mine. His breath scraped against my lips. "Don't let her drive."

"I'm trying."

"Try harder."

Kaiser dragged himself across the shattered tiles, one hand pressed to his bleeding side. His usual neat coat hung in strips, and the bone seal he had given me was gone from his palm.

"Varan, move her away from the core. Now.