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“I want to get the fuck out of Reave!” Lily yelled.

They all kept silent, the only sound she could hear was her pulse in her eardrums.

The woman wiggled within her hold, and Lily ground her fingernails into her skin.

They’d never let her go. No matter how much or how little this woman mattered to anyone, Lily couldn’t kill her—and Neir knew it. He wouldn’t let his partner ruin this for him.

Her focus snapped back to the present when small hands grabbed her leg.

The youngest Hazevale put himself between Lily and the Stalkers.

“Get out of the way, Luka!” Neir snarled.

Luka said nothing, only clinging tighter, his trembling fingers pinching her skin through her pants.

Lily’s lips parted, but no words came. The woman in her grasp wasn’t worth the risk.

But the boy was.

Before she could act, a sharp crack of pain split her thoughts. The woman’s head had slammed into her forehead, sending Lily stumbling back. In the next breath, the Stalker was free of death’s hold and tackled Lily to the ground.

Lily’s shattered wrist burned frantically at the assault. Another oscillating shot echoed through the edge of the market, but it only halted her for a fraction of a second. The Stalker wrapped her hands around Lily’s jugular, cutting her breath just enough to send panic flooding her veins.

Her fight for survival flourished.

Lily’s hand desperately searched for skin—anything. All she needed was the faintest touch. She found the woman’s face, cold and hard like ice. Her fingers pressed into the woman’s cheek, burning with an intensity she had only felt once before.

The Stalker’s grip weakened under the onslaught of the Wraith’s touch. When her windpipe was finally free, all Lily could do was hold back the need to sob as she watched the light drain from the woman’s terrified eyes, her face seared with marks from Lily’s angry fingers.

She released her victim when the woman’s heavy body sank into her own. The sweet taste of death filled the air, running down the back of her throat. Lily drove away the scorn and the regret along with pushing the lifeless corpse onto her back, and immediately grabbed Luka’s hand, stealing the graft from him.

Chaos broke out around her. Neir froze in place, if by his own choice or from the other Stalker, Lily couldn’t tell. Everything happened in a blink.

She slithered her venomous touch around Luka’s slender shoulders, hugging him tightly to her. Spinning the graft between her fingers, she broke the glass with a press of her thumb.

The device did exactly what she asked of it. Her vision faded from the marketplace, leaving the imprint of what she was about to miss stuck in her mind—her victim’s soul would seep from her agape mouth like steam passing through a grate. It would hover over the body before disappearing back into its unseen realm.

The woman’s lover would fall to his knees as it faded from sight. Neir would roar in fury, and Lily prayed that whoever came to her rescue would begin anew somewhere far away.

Chapter Ten

“What is this?”

Draven whipped around to find Brialis staring at him from the front of the room, the luster from the Guardian intense as the doors slammed shut.

Her voice carried through the dark. “Life eternal. This was his wish.”

There were many things Draven could say regarding his father, most of which left a foul taste in the back of his throat, but he did value human life in ways the other Flares couldn’t understand. There was a reason the Guardian accepted him, and that’s what made him so convincing. His father’s favorite words were spoken by his brother, the stewards, his armies, Chiman. By anyone within the beginnings of the Reatian Empire. Words that were beaten into Draven’s head until all he could see was death for the infection it was.

His frantic gaze wandered back down to the breathing corpse in the chamber.

But this… this was better than death?

He locked onto his empty eyes. “Where is his piece of the Guardian?”

“After a while, the Serpent’s affliction was only an excuse to keep you down there. The real reason you’ve lasted this long was because he cared about you. His love was why he was so lenient, and yet you are still ungrateful for his legacy.” Her tone lowered. “You deserved no sanctuary. No praise. No worship.”

“Answer me!”