Chapter 16 · Kneel, Calamity King

"Kneel, Carson. Properly."

It wasn't a request. Carson’s body jerked like he was hooked to a fishing line. His knees slammed into the concrete with a bone-deep thud that echoed through the ruins. He didn't even have the breath to groan. Black veins of the curse were crawling up his throat, thick and pulsing like living ink.

"Stop it!" I screamed, lunging forward.

An invisible wall of pressure slammed into my chest. I flew back, hitting the floor hard. Air left my lungs in a wheeze. The double—the thing wearing my face—didn't even look at me. She was too busy watching Carson struggle.

"You see, Evelyn? This is the Rook legacy," she said. Her voice was a cruel mirror of my own. "A king isn't someone who leads. A king is a cage. And right now? The cage is leaking."

Carson’s fingers clawed at the grit. His eyes were blown wide, panicked, pleading. He tried to speak, but only a wet, choking sound came out. The ink reached his lips.

"What do you want?" I spat. I pushed myself up, palms stinging from the scrape. "You have him. You have the curse.