Chapter 22 · Whispers from the Pit

"Stop shaking, or I'm going to rip you out of my skin," Lyra hissed. Her fingers were dug into my shoulder, her nails drawing blood where my shadow-flesh was still knitting together.

I couldn't stop. Every nerve ending felt like it was being threaded with white-hot needles. My body wasn't just changing; it was screaming. The human I'd devoured was still fighting back in my gut, a messy slurry of memories and meat that refused to settle.

"I can't... help it," I spat, my voice sounding like two stones grinding together. I tried to pull away, but she yanked me closer, her chest pressing against mine. The heat coming off her was a goddamn furnace, the only thing keeping me from dissolving back into a puddle of ink.

"Look at me, Kael. Focus on the heat. Don't let the hunger take the wheel," she commanded. Her eyes were hard, scanning my shifting form. "If you lose it now, I'm not saving you a second time. I'll just burn you into a cinder and move on."

"You're a real ray of sunshine, you know that?" I managed to choke out.

She didn't smile.