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"You blink wrong and I open your throat." The blade was already kissing Silas's skin.
Cold steel. Right against the pulse. Vivian's hand didn't shake at all.
"Wrong girl," I tried to say. Nothing came out. Silas's mouth wouldn't move.
Because I was still stuck in the backseat. A ghost with no hands.
Vivian pressed harder. A thin line of heat bloomed on his neck. Silas's blood. Not mine. But I felt it anyway.
"Look at me," she said. "Eyes up, Tyrant."
Silas's head lifted. Slow. Laggy. Like his body was running on dial-up.
His eyes met hers. And hers were pissed. Not cold-assassin pissed. Betrayed pissed.
"You don't remember me, do you?" she said. "Three years. You left me in that cell to rot."
Silas said nothing. Because Silas wasn't driving.
I was screaming inside his skull. Move. Move, you useless beautiful bastard. Move your damn hand.
His right hand twitched. That was it. From the last chapter. That one stupid twitch that blocked her first slash. Now? Nothing.
"Answer me," she hissed. She leaned in. I could smell steel and sweat and something like jasmine. "You gave the order. You signed it. My whole unit. Gone."
"I didn't," Silas's voice finally scraped out. Hoarse. Low. "Vivian. Listen."
"Don't say my name." She twisted the blade. Just a fraction. Blood welled faster. "You don't get to say it."
Great. So the host body comes with ex-girlfriend baggage and a murder warrant. Perfect.
And I had maybe ten seconds before she actually cut.
[System: Mana Detected. Host Reservoir: 98%]
[Warning: Parasite Starvation in 00:47]
Oh, right. That.
The little blue screen only I could see was flashing like a check engine light. If I didn't steal his mana, I faded. If I tried and failed, Silas would notice and erase me.
"You think silence will save you?" Vivian said. "You always did that. Let other people bleed while you watched."
"I'm not watching," Silas choked out. His pulse was hammering against her blade. I felt every thud.
"Then talk. Why did you do it? Why sell us out to the North?"
Silas's throat worked. He had no answer. Or he had one he couldn't say.
I didn't care about his drama. I needed that mana.
I slammed my will against whatever wall was between me and his core. It was like trying to drink through concrete.
Come on. Come on. Give me a sip.
"Last chance," Vivian whispered. Her face was inches from his. Her breath hit his lips. "Give me one reason not to paint this floor with you."
"I can give you one," I forced through Silas's teeth. His voice cracked weird. Two tones at once. Mine and his.
Vivian froze. Her eyes narrowed.
"What?"
"You don't want to kill him," I made Silas say. My control was garbage. The words slurred. "You want him to hurt. There's a difference."
She stared. The blade didn't move.
"What the hell was that?" she said. "Your voice."
Silas's own consciousness flickered. Confused. Annoyed. Like someone talking in a theater.
I ignored him and yanked again. Harder.
[Steal Attempt: 1%... 4%...]
It burned. God, it burned. Like sucking ice water through a raw nerve.
"Let me guess," I pushed Silas's mouth to keep talking. Keep her distracted. "You got in here too easy. No guards. No wards. Tyrant's castle empty on the night you come to kill him? Come on, Vivian. You're smarter than that."
Her grip tightened. "What are you implying?"
"I'm saying someone wanted you here. Someone left the door open." Silas's lips curled. Not my doing. That was him. Smug bastard even with a knife to his throat. "Who sent you?"
"You don't get to ask questions," she snapped. But I saw it. The flicker. Doubt.
She hadn't thought about that. Perfect assassin, zero critical thinking under heartbreak.
"The seal on your wrist," I said through Silas. My eyes - his eyes - dropped to her left forearm. The leather bracer there was glowing faintly. A slave mark. Or a mission seal. "That thing kills you if you fail, right? So you can't afford to get this wrong."
Her sleeve slipped. Just an inch. And there it was. Red light pulsing under the skin. A binding sigil.
She yanked her arm back. "How do you know about that?"
"I know you were sold," Silas's voice said, rougher now, more me. "Not sent. Sold. And if you kill me here, you die with me. No payout. No revenge. Just dead in an empty room."
"Shut up," she said. But the blade eased. A millimeter. Enough for blood to stop beading.
[Steal Success: 12 Mana Absorbed]
[Level Up! Parasite Lv.1 -> Lv.2]
[New Skill Unlocked: Thread Bind (Basic)]
Oh.
Oh hell yes.
It hit like a shot of adrenaline straight to the soul. For a month - for a lifetime - I'd been numb. Floating. Now I had fingers. I had weight.
Silas's right hand shot up. My hand now. Fast. No lag.
I caught her knife wrist.
She gasped. Tried to pull back. Couldn't.
My grip was iron. His mana was singing in my veins. Hot and bright and mine.
"Let go," she snarled. She drove her knee up. Aimed for his ribs.
I twisted. Used his bigger frame. We slammed sideways into the stone wall. Her back hit. My body - his body - caged hers.
Close. Way too close. Her chest heaved against his. Her hair had come loose. That jasmine smell was stronger now, mixed with blood.
"You—" she breathed. Her eyes were wide. Not scared. Furious. "You moved. You were frozen."
"I got better," I said with Silas's mouth. His voice was low, right against her ear. I could feel her pulse jumping under my thumb where I held her wrist.
She struggled. Hard. She was strong. Trained. But I had mana now and she had a knife she couldn't use.
"Get off me," she hissed. She tried to headbutt. I dodged. Barely.
"No," I said. "You come into my house, put a blade to my throat, and you don't even ask who you're really talking to? Rude."
"Who I'm—" She stopped. Really looked at his eyes. At Silas's eyes that were suddenly not Silas's at all. "Your eyes. They're..."
Gold flecks. I saw it in the reflection of her blade. His irises were bleeding gold. My level-up leaking out.
"Yeah," I whispered. "Weird, right?"
I didn't think. I just did it. The new skill burned in my head. Thread Bind.
I pressed my other hand - his left hand - to her marked forearm. Mana sparked. Thin as spider silk, bright white-gold, it shot from his palm and wrapped around her sigil.
She screamed. Not loud. Sharp. Shocked.
The red seal sputtered. Then the white thread locked over it. Like a collar over a collar.
"What did you do?" she choked. She clawed at it. The thread didn't budge. It sank into her skin and settled. Cool. Glowing.
"Insurance," I said. Silas's voice was steady now. Mine was steady. "You try to kill this body again, that thing shocks you. You try to run, I yank the leash. You try to tell anyone what you saw here? Same."
"You collared me?" She stared at her arm, then at his face, pure disbelief and rage. "You son of a bitch, you collared me?"
"Hey. Not his idea. Mine." I leaned in. Just an inch. Close enough that her breath hitched. "And I'm the one you should be worried about."
Her lips parted. She was breathing hard. Anger, yes. But something else. Confusion. That weird pull when someone sees something impossible.
The knife clattered to the floor. Her hand went limp in mine.
For a second, neither of us moved. The only sound was his heartbeat - our heartbeat - loud in the stone room.
She looked up. Really up. Past Silas. Into me.
And her voice dropped to nothing.
"Who are you in there?"