Chapter 20 · You already searched me. You found nothing

"You already searched me. You found nothing."

"I found the thing you hid."

"You found the thing that hid itself."

That stopped him.

Mira looked at the purple glow leaking between their fingers. "It wasn't in my pocket when I entered the fortress. I checked. My coat was torn. I emptied every pocket before I went to Nora's ward. It appeared after you carried me back."

Silas stared at the crystal.

"You think I planted it?" he asked.

"I think somebody did."

"Who?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out."

"By touching it?"

"By listening to it."

"It's not speaking."

"It said my name."

His fingers tightened.

"What did you say?"

"It whispered my name in the red zone. Then it stopped when you came near."

Silas's face lost what little color it had left.

Mira saw it. "You know what it is."

"No."

"Liar."

"I know what it does. That's enough."

"Then tell me."

"It calls the infected."

"The crystal called me."

"You were close to an infected district."

"It called me before I entered."

Silas looked toward the sealed door, as if he expected someone to be listening through the iron.

Mira pulled against his grip.