Chapter 14 · The Hollow Cure - Chapter 14: Dead Man Talking

"Get your hands off me, Kael!"

Lyra’s voice cracked, but she still tried to jerk her arm away. I didn't let go. I pinned her against the cold stone of the altar, my fingers locking around her wrist. The blood-contract on her skin was humming, a low, angry vibration that pulsed against my palm.

"Stay still," I snapped, my voice sounding like gravel. "You want to crystallize from the elbow down? Because that’s where we’re heading if you keep twitching."

She glared at me, her chest heaving. The distance between us was gone. I could smell the sharp, metallic scent of the blood-crystals and the faint, sweet musk of her skin. Her eyes were wide, flickering between terror and something that looked a lot like trust, though she’d never admit it.

"You're shaking," she whispered, her gaze dropping to my hands.

I looked down. She was right. My fingers were trembling. Not from fear—I’d seen enough guts and gore to last ten lifetimes—but from the sheer, suffocating pressure of what was sitting on the table between us.

The brain.

It wasn't just a lump of grey matter.