The Black Vein Choir

My scalpel is at Lord Silas Renn’s throat when he starts to sing. If I don’t cut him open now, the Black Vein will turn his blood to ink—and make him burst in front of me. The iron-fisted warlord owns my freedom, my knives, and the seven days I have to find a cure before he burns the infected city. He orders me to leave the quarantined children to die, but every scream drags me closer to rebellion—and every time his cold hands pin me against the operating table, closer to him. Then I find black veins creeping beneath his skin. Do I expose the infected man I’m beginning to love—or cut out his heart before his deadly song begins?