Chapter 41 · He weighed almost nothing. "Cassian," she said through

He weighed almost nothing.

"Cassian," she said through clenched teeth. "I need you now."

His voice returned as a ragged whisper. "Put him down."

"No."

"Sylvia, he is carrying a seal. If it opens inside the bond—"

"Then tell me how to stop it."

"You cannot stop it while holding him."

The inquisitor had reached the shard. His gloved fingers closed around it.

His scream cut through the chamber.

The black glass burst into threads of dark light and wrapped around his arm. He fell to his knees, dragging the shard toward his chest.

"There," Cassian said. "The fragment is loose. Take it before he absorbs it."

Sylvia shifted the boy higher against her shoulder.

"You want the shard."

"I want us alive."

"Same thing?"

"Not today."

The inquisitor slammed his free hand into the floor. Silver symbols spread beneath him.

The boy's body jerked in Sylvia's arms.

His eyes stayed closed, but the silver lines on his face began to glow.

"He is waking," Sylvia said.

"He is opening the seal."

"How do I shut it?"

"Put the fragment into the bond."

"That could kill him.