Chapter 25 · The Hollow Cure - Chapter 25: Red Circle

"Get back! Kael, get the hell away from me!"

Lyra didn't just scream it; she shoved him. Her palm hit his chest with a desperate force, but her wrist buckled. The crystalline growths under her skin flared a violent, pulsing crimson, sending a tremor through her entire arm. She stumbled back, her boots skidding on the grit of the ruined plaza.

Kael didn't budge. He didn't even blink. He stepped into her space, his boots crunching on shattered glass, and grabbed her wrist in a grip that felt like a vice.

"Stop fighting me," he snapped. His voice was low, vibrating with a jagged edge of frustration. "You're leaking essence. Look at your arm. You're practically glowing, and not in the way that keeps you alive."

"I can handle it," she hissed, trying to yank her arm away. She failed. He had her pinned against a leaning slab of blackened marble, the cold stone biting into her shoulder blades.

Kael leaned in, his face inches from hers. She could smell the sharp, metallic scent of the chemicals clinging to his coat and the faint, bitter aroma of the stimulants he’d been chewing.