Chapter 18 · The Original Sin

"Step back, or I'll put a hole through your skull before the harvest even starts."

The man didn't even look at Mara. His eyes were locked on Cael, who was slumped against the wall, skin pulsing with a sickly, gold light. In the man's hand, a royal-grade siphoning coil hummed, ripping jagged arcs of energy straight out of Cael's chest.

Mara didn't step back. She lunged.

She didn't go for the gun—she went for the coil. Her fingers clamped onto the cold metal, but the man was faster. He slammed the butt of the pistol into her ribs.

*Crack.*

Mara hit the floor, the air leaving her lungs in a sharp wheeze.

"Don't be a hero, hunter," the man sneered, his voice like dry parchment. "You're just a glitch. Cael, though? He's the key. The only one who can carry the purge without burning out. Well... almost."

Cael let out a guttural moan. The gold light beneath his skin flared, turning a violent, bruised purple. He wasn't just overloaded. He was fracturing.

"Stop it!" Mara yelled, scrambling up, clutching her side. "You're killing him!"

"Killing him?" The man laughed. "I'm cleaning him. The Crown doesn't like messy legacies.