Chapter 27 · You are the one bleeding through your shirt

"You are the one bleeding through your shirt."

"And you are the one I am keeping alive."

The gate burst inward.

Silas twisted, taking Mira with him. A wave of black dust blasted through the opening. It struck his back instead of her face.

He grunted and dropped to one knee.

Mira hit the floor beside him. The dust coated his coat in dark specks that crawled like wet ink before sinking into the fabric.

"Silas!"

"Stay down."

"You took another hit."

"I said stay down."

A figure stepped through the broken gate.

Not a soldier. Not one of the plague-thin victims from the lower wards.

A woman in a white mask held a hooked staff in both hands. The mask had no eyeholes, only a narrow black slit across the front.

Behind her, three armed men raised their weapons.

The masked woman looked at the seal in Mira's hand.

"Give it to me, surgeon."

Mira rose halfway. "Come get it."

Silas grabbed her ankle and pulled her back.

"Do not be brave," he said.

"Do not be possessive."

"Those men will shoot you."

"Then stop giving them a clean target."

He pushed himself up. His knees nearly failed.