Chapter 20 · The Forbidden Deal

"Don't touch the seal." Vivian's blade pressed under Silas's jaw, right where Ella could feel the edge of it through his skin.

"Then stop trying to cut my throat," Silas said.

Ella shoved against the inside of his mind. The body lurched. Vivian's wrist snapped sideways, but she caught herself before the blade slipped.

"That wasn't you," Vivian said.

"It was close enough."

"No." Her eyes narrowed. "You don't move like that."

Silas smiled, but Ella felt the pain behind it. Black lines crawled up his neck beneath the skin, thin as ink dropped into water. They pulsed once.

Her pulse answered from somewhere deep inside him.

Vivian saw it. Of course she did.

"There," she whispered. "It's getting worse."

"You came here to kill me, not diagnose me. Pick one."

"I came here because three guards saw you enter this room and none of them saw you leave. Then the door locked from the inside." She leaned closer. Her breath brushed his cheek, warm and sharp with mint. "Now your veins are turning black, and you're talking like someone is standing behind your eyes."

Ella pushed harder.

Move your hand, she snapped inside Silas's skull.