Chapter 37 · He looked like the boy in the locked

He looked like the boy in the locked room.

Kael adjusted his hold, careful not to press the ivory ridges under the blanket.

“I’m getting you out,” he said.

Julian blinked. “That’s an order?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not the one with the guards.”

“I’m still the doctor.”

“And if I refuse treatment?”

“I’ll tie you to the table.”

“You’d like that.”

“I’d like you alive.”

Julian went still.

Kael heard the words after they left him. Too honest. Too exposed.

Julian’s thumb moved once against the side of Kael’s neck. A small touch. Barely there.

“Say it again,” Julian whispered.

Kael’s jaw tightened. “Don’t push your luck.”

“I’m dying. Luck is all I have.”

“You’re not dying today.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

The echo roared behind them.

Silas fired a flare into the smoke. White fire burst across the stairwell. The creature recoiled, revealing a body wrapped in split ivory plates. Its face had no eyes, only a dark hollow vibrating with stolen voices.

One of those voices said Kael’s name.

Another said his sister’s.

Julian heard it. His body jerked in Kael’s arms.

“Don’t stop,” Silas ordered.

Kael carried Julian through the lower passage.