Chapter 24 · The Silver Standoff

The gray vapor hit the room before the halberd finished pulling back.

It smelled like burnt coins and rotten milk. I yanked my sleeve over my mouth and my eyes started streaming.

"Vane." I grabbed his shoulder. "Vane, get down. Don't breathe it."

He didn't get down. He was on his knees by the hearth with his claws sunk into the stone floor, and his chest was heaving like a bellows. His eyes were pure gold. No white left in them at all.

The silver was getting into him. I could hear it in his breathing, a wet rasp that hadn't been there a minute ago.

"Nobody's coming in yet," I told myself. "Move, Sera. Move."

I dragged the washbasin off the stand and soaked the nearest bear pelt until water ran down my elbows. Then I threw it over the gap in the doors like a wet blanket.

The vapor hissed against it. Some of it still crept around the edges, thin and mean.

"Smart girl." Garrick's voice came through the splinters, smooth as warm butter. "Always had a head for herbs, didn't you?"

"Always had a nose for poison, too." My voice cracked, but I pushed on.