Chapter 43 · Tell me the truth

A faint smile touched his mouth. It vanished when the shard pulsed again.

Sylvia shoved him away. This time, the bond let her move. Cassian staggered one step, and the room tilted with him. She caught the edge of the table.

"Tell me the truth," she said. "No royal nonsense. No half-answers. What happens if I fail?"

Cassian looked at the black shard under her skin.

"It finishes feeding on your life."

"And then?"

"It detonates."

"Killing everyone in this building?"

"Everyone in this district."

The lock split with a sharp crack.

Sylvia grabbed a silver clamp from the table. "You might've led with that."

"You would've panicked."

"I'm a surgeon. I don't panic."

"You stabbed a guard with a spoon yesterday."

"He earned it."

"You screamed when the spoon broke."

"I was angry."

The door bent inward.

Sylvia threw the clamp at it. The metal struck the lock and sparked. A ward snapped across the door, buying them seconds.

She turned back to Cassian. "Show me where the other fragments are."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"The bond is blocking the memory."

"Then stop blocking it."

"You can't handle the full connection."

Sylvia stepped into him and caught his torn collar.