Chapter 52 · The Choice

"Get away from the core, Mara!"

Dorian slammed into me from the side.

Black light snapped across the dais where I'd been standing. His arm locked around my waist and dragged me against his chest as a strip of darkness whipped past my cheek.

It struck the wall hard enough to shake dust from the ceiling.

"Let go of me!"

"Not while it's reaching for you."

"It's reaching for you, too."

The black veins crawling over his hand answered for him.

They'd passed his wrist. Thin lines twisted beneath his skin, climbing his forearm toward the broken mark at his throat.

Dorian shoved me behind him.

"You can't shield me with your body."

"Watch me."

Another strand shot from the core.

Dorian caught it barehanded.

The impact drove him to one knee. Darkness wrapped around his palm and bit deep. Burned metal stung my nose.

"Dorian!"

"Don't come closer."

"You're losing control."

"I know exactly what I'm doing."

"No, you don't."

I stepped around him. "Silas sealed the core. The power isn't moving through the shield anymore.