Chapter 10 · Borrowing the Blade

"Move, parasite, or we both die."

Silas's voice ripped through my head and the blade was already at his throat. Not his. Mine. Our throat.

"Oh, now you ask nicely?" I snapped back inside his skull. "You locked me out for three days, you controlling freak."

"And you spent that mana flirting with the woman trying to kill us," he hissed. "Move us. Now."

The throne room was wrong. Too quiet. Too empty. Two guards down on the marble, blood still spreading. And one guy left standing, sword up, right against Silas's neck. Our neck. Silas's body was frozen solid, like someone hit pause on his nervous system.

My system screamed in red across my vision.

[SYNC RATE: 31% - CRITICAL. MOTOR CONTROL DENIED.]

"Yeah, no shit it's denied," I muttered. "You cut the link, genius. You did this."

"I did not cut it. You did," Silas growled. His mental voice was low and pissed and way too close. Like his mouth was against my ear inside our own head. "You pulled too much last time. You destabilized us."

"I pulled too much?