Chapter 19 · Soul Glitch

"Don't move, Silas. I mean it."

The blade pressed harder against his throat.

I felt the cold steel through Silas's skin. I also felt the heat of Vivian's body behind him, one arm locked across his chest, her breath brushing the side of his neck every time she spoke.

And Silas was trying to smile.

"You always say that," he murmured.

"You always move."

"Occupational hazard."

Vivian shoved him against the stone pillar. His shoulder hit first. Pain flashed through the body I was trapped inside, sharp enough to drag me toward the surface.

For half a second, his right hand lifted.

I grabbed it.

Not with fingers. I didn't have fingers. I had a thread of awareness wrapped around his nerves, a stolen spark of mana, and a desperate grip on the only control I could reach.

His hand stopped inches from Vivian's wrist.

She noticed.

Her blade tipped up beneath his jaw. "That wasn't me."

Silas's mouth twitched. "You give yourself too much credit."

"I didn't move your hand."

"Then you're getting slow."

"Shut up."

"Make me."

She twisted his arm behind his back.

I felt the joint strain. Silas's body wanted to retaliate.