Chapter 26 · The Hollow Cure - Chapter 26: The Devil's Deal

"Still breathing, or just stubborn?"

Aldrus’s voice drifted from the shadows of the vaulted chamber, smooth and cold like a razor blade. He didn't step forward. He didn't have to. The weight of his presence filled the room, pressing down on the three of us like a physical blow.

Kael didn't look up. He was hunched over the slab, his hands deep in the open chest cavity of a man who had been dead for at least two days. The corpse was a mess of grey flesh and jagged, violet crystal shards erupting from the lungs.

"Get back, Lyra," Kael muttered, his voice strained.

Lyra didn't move. She couldn't. Her own wrist was throbbing, the blood-contract brand burning a dull, angry red against her skin. She could feel the crystallization creeping up her forearm, a slow, glittering death. She leaned in, her shoulder brushing Kael’s. He smelled of metallic blood, old chemicals, and a sharp, desperate kind of sweat.

"You're wasting your time, Surgeon," Aldrus said, finally stepping into the dim light. He looked immaculate—not a single crease in his white inquisitor's robes. "That man is a husk. The crystals have eaten the soul.