Page 102 of The Fifth Heir

Her sleeve pulled back from her wrist.

A sharp reflection struck my eye.

“Stop.”

She froze. “What happened?”

“Don’t move your hand.”

Her gaze went to the rune lamp. “Is the plate unstable?”

“No.”

I caught her wrist before she could pull away.

Her pulse struck once beneath my fingers. I registered its speed automatically, then resented myself for noticing anything except the anomaly.

She looked at my hand, then at me.

“What are you doing?”

“There’s something on your skin.”

Her expression changed immediately. “The assessment burn?”

“You weren’t burned.”

“That’s what the healer said.”

“This isn’t a burn.”

I turned her wrist toward the concentrated light.

For several seconds, I saw nothing. The reflection had vanished, leaving smooth skin beneath the edge of her sleeve.

Then the beam moved.

A sliver of clear material appeared above the pulse point.

It was no larger than my smallest fingernail and so transparent that the color of her skin showed through it. Its edges lay flat, without blood or redness around them.

“A piece of glass,” Talia said.

“No.”

“It could have come from the lamp.”

“The lens is intact.”

“Then from the cabinet.”

She tried to pull her wrist free.

I tightened my fingers enough to stop her without hurting her. “Wait.”

“If it’s embedded, I need the healer.”

“It isn’t embedded.”