I try to shove it down, it’s wrong, I know that, but I don’t have the strength to push it back anymore. What slips through instead iswant—quiet, unwelcome, dangerous.
And once it’s there, I can’t shut it down.
“Okay, it’s nearly out,” he says. “If we’ve got it all, you should start feeling your legs again pretty soon. But once the poison clears, the numbing’s going to wear off too. That’s when the pain hits....” He looks up at me, something flickers low in my belly. “You ready?”
Shit. Bren’s still at least fifteen minutes out. Maybe more. But I can already feel the tingling in my hips—the poison spreading upwards, lungs can’t be far behind. No. It needs to come outnow. I hold his gaze and nod.
One last flick of his blade, a small bit of pressure and the last piece of the urchin spine comes out.
It’s small. Stupidly small. How the hell can something that tiny do so much damage? Talen does one final check, then sets my hand down, gentle, before sliding his weapon away.
I lift it, looking at my finger. There's no blood, just a small cluster of pale, shallow lines—clean and exact, like he mapped every one before cutting. Beside me, he shifts and rises to his feet.
“You think you can stand?” he asks, holding out a hand as his dark eyes meet mine—the gold catching in the firelight below, burning too bright to ignore.
“Uh… I’ll try,” I mutter, reaching up to take his hand. The second I shift, my legs wobble. I catch his forearm, steadying myself as I haul upright. They still feel numb, distant, but they hold.
Talen lets go once I’m up, my back catching against the cold stone of the chapel behind me, I’d definitely hit the ground if it wasn’t there.
I let out a slow breath, then, subtle, but enough, I feel it. A flicker, tingling in my feet, my Threads stirring again as the poison finally starts to fade. It’s working. Oh, thank fuck. But just as the warmth creeps back, the throb in my finger flares—sharp, pulsing. My lips pull tight. Jaw clenched.Shit, that hurts.
“Everything okay? How’s it feeling?” Talen asks.
“Yeah, it’s a bitch. Hurts like hell.” I hiss. “But... It’s, it’s bearable.”
Should’ve kept my mouth shut.
The second the words are out, it actually hits.
Fire lashes through my veins, tracing every inch the poison touched—bone, muscle, it’s everywhere. It’s too much.
My eyes squeeze tight, fingers twist into claws as I rake them across my own skin like maybe I can tear the feeling out, maybe if I rip deep enough, it’ll go quiet.
It doesn’t. Every heartbeat is a blade, and there are so many fucking heartbeats. This isn’t pain—it’s obliteration. The world narrows, breath shuddering thin, my whole body lit up like rawwire as every nerve screams like it’s being set alight from the inside.
Bren’s still ten minutes out, maybe more. I won’t survive ten seconds of this.
I can’t think. Air won’t come right. All I can do is scream.
Make it stop.
Make it stop!
God!—
My stomach heaves. I choke on the bile clawing its way up my throat. The floor tilts. Every pulse feels like it’s splitting my skull open from the inside.
I’m going to pass out, part of me wants to. Anything to get out of this.
“I can’t—I can’t—I can’t—” The words tumble out, breathless. Shaking.
Another scream rips loose, raw, animal, then something shifts in front of me. Heat clamps around my finger, pressure, a soft pull, and suddenly it stops.
Just—gone.
My body sinks, all at once, I fall back against the chapel wall, chest heaving. Not from pain, just the release. Still, I keep my eyes shut, afraid that if I open them it will come back.
But nothing comes. No fire. No razors under my skin anymore.
