Chapter 31 · His Teeth at Her Throat

"Don't move." Kael's voice scraped out like gravel on glass.

I froze halfway up the altar steps. Blood still dripped from the vial Mom had shoved at me, warm and sticky against my palm. Behind me, the chains that had held him rattled once, twice—then went silent.

"Kael." I didn't turn around. "Tell me you're still in there."

"Barely."

The word came out more growl than speech. I heard his breathing change, heard the snap of bone that meant his body was deciding whether to stay human or stop pretending.

"Lena." Mom's voice, sharp. She was still crouched by the altar's edge, one hand pressed to the gash in her side. "Run. Now."

"Not leaving you."

"He'll rip you apart."

"He'll try." I turned, slow, and met Kael's eyes across ten feet of blood-smeared stone.

They weren't his eyes anymore. Gold had eaten the grey, and the pupils had gone thin and vertical. His shirt hung in shreds.