Chapter 18 · Not a Normal Mob, Huh?

"Not a normal mob, huh?" The white blade kissed my throat before I could even twitch.

Cold. Sharp. Pressed right against the new spikes trying to push out of my skin.

The guy in the white armor smiled like he already owned me. Tall, clean, that perfect hero hair. Silas's dog, no doubt.

"Answer me, parasite," he said. "What are you?"

I didn't answer. Couldn't. My whole body was still buzzing from the evolution, those black obsidian spikes humming under my skin like they wanted out. Unstable as hell. One wrong move and I'd crack open.

"He's with me," Lyra snapped.

She stepped in fast. Shoulder to shoulder with me. Her hand hovered near my arm but didn't touch. Yet.

The white-armor guy didn't even look at her. His eyes stayed on me. Blue, bored, lethal.

"With you?" he said. "Lyra, come on. You know the rules. Unregistered mobs get purged. Especially ones that look like that."

"He's registered," she said. "Under my contract."

"Bullshit." He tilted his blade, just enough to bite. A thin line of black blood welled up on my neck. Not red. Black. "That's not Seed blood. Seeds don't grow spikes.