Chapter 28 · Blood Run

"Get behind me, Sloane. Now."

Kaelen didn't wait for her to answer. He grabbed her shoulder and shoved her back, his palm hot and heavy through the thin fabric of her tunic. The force of it sent her stumbling into the workbench, knocking over a row of glass vials that shattered with a sharp, melodic crash.

Varis stood in the doorway, flanked by six armored Inquisitors. He wasn't rushing. He looked like a man who had already won, his lips curled in a thin, clinical smile.

"Still playing house, I see," Varis said, his voice echoing in the cramped lab. "How touching. The creator and her little pet, hiding in the dirt."

Kaelen’s body went rigid. He stepped forward, his boots grinding glass into the floorboards. A low, guttural sound started in his chest—not a human noise, but something that sounded like a tectonic plate snapping.

"Touch her," Kaelen spat, his voice dropping an octave, "and I'll rip your throat out before you can blink."

Varis chuckled, a dry, rattling sound. "Such loyalty. It’s almost a shame that the spark inside you is designed to incinerate everything it touches.