Chapter 13 · The Price of Silence

"Do you feel it yet, Nora? That little itch in your marrow?" Kaelen leaned forward, his voice a smooth, poisonous drip. He didn't look at the food. He looked right through her.

I froze. My fork clattered against the porcelain, the sound echoing like a gunshot in the sudden silence of the dining room. My stomach dropped. He wasn't just talking about the shadow magic—he was talking about the Decay. The slow, rotting eat-away that happens when the dark takes more than it gives.

"I have no idea what you're implying, Kaelen," I said. My voice sounded thin. Brittle. Like old glass.

"Lying doesn't suit you. It makes your eyes twitch." Kaelen smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. He shifted his gaze to Sera, who was sitting far too still beside me. "And you, little hunter. You've been playing bodyguard to a ticking time bomb. Tell me, does she smell like ozone and wet earth to you? Or is that just the scent of a dying god?"

Sera’s hand, which had been resting near mine under the table, suddenly tightened. Her grip was like a vice, grounding me, but I could feel her pulse racing.