Chapter 17 · The Taboo Trade

"Don't touch the door, Kane." Cillian caught his wrist before he could reach the lock. "If you break the circle, the curse will tear through both of us."

Kane looked down at Cillian's hand, then back at his face. His pupils were too wide. The drug had left him pale, sweating, and mean enough to bite through steel.

"You said the same thing ten minutes ago," Kane said. "Then you put a knife next to my heart. Forgive me if I don't trust your bedside manner."

"That wasn't a knife. It was a tuning blade."

"It had a blade."

"And you still have a pulse. You're welcome."

Behind the glass wall, Lilith folded her arms. "This is your secret treatment? Arguing while you threaten him with cutlery?"

Cillian didn't look at her. "Keep watching. That's what you came for."

"I came to stop you from killing my patient."

Kane gave a rough laugh. "Your patient? You abandoned me the second the curse got complicated."

Lilith's mouth tightened. "I told you the curse was beyond standard treatment."

"You told my father I was finished." Kane turned his head toward her. "You told him to prepare the board for my replacement.