Chapter 57 · Deadly Dance

"Don't move, Sylvia. Your left hand is not yours anymore."

Cassian's voice came from inside her skull, low and sharp enough to cut through the ringing in her ears.

Sylvia's hand kept moving.

The silver needle shook between her fingers as she drove it through the black seam spreading across her palm. Pain flashed up her arm. She bit down hard and pulled the thread tight.

Across the ruined operating room, Master Veyr lifted his pistol.

"You heard him," Veyr said. "Drop the needle."

"Tell him to drop the gun first."

Cassian laughed inside her mind. It was a rough sound, close to her heartbeat. "I told you not to move."

"And I ignored you. Try to survive the shock."

The black seam in her palm twitched.

Not skin. Not exactly. The thing growing under it had started as a dark line three days ago. Now it crawled toward her wrist in thin, branching marks. Every time Cassian pushed his will through their bond, it spread faster.

Every time she pushed him back, her chest felt like it was splitting open.

Veyr stepped around the overturned table.