nne

s of bioluminescent green fungi from the stone brackets, arranging them arou

w..." Tessa's voice broke as she stared at the gaping, blackened cav

a heavy stone flask of high-proof spirits and pouring the stinging liquid over my bare hands to sterilize my skin. "Abyssal cold iron is a necrot

, pressing two fingers firml

r minute. Thready,

apse, and a thin rim of black frost crystals encrusted his broken rib

few precious tools-a slender silver scalpel, bone pr

steel turns cherry red, then cool them in the alcohol," I o

Tessa obeyed wit

he moment the biting alcohol washed into the raw cavity, a violent, involuntary tremor seized Adrien's massive

his shattered core-bloodthirsty, suffocating, and wild, shaking the

as the crushing pressure pres

t give

g down until my breath stirred the damp strands at his temple, I placed my cool left palm flat

w, resonant murmur. "I am not your enemy. I

ra shuddered, faltered, and curled back into his chest like a whipped houn

held out my

d steel into my palm w

the blackened tissue, a sickening hiss escaped the wound. Thick, foul-smelling blac

d butchery. But my hands were as motionless as stone, slicing precisely along the fascial planes, stripp

or: the Abyssal frost had calcified directly onto his third and fourt

, I began to scrape t

e. Sc

ea. Even in deep coma, Adrien arched off the mattress, a strangled g

his broad shoulders down with my left forearm whil

eeth, sweat dripping from my jaw onto h

d the bloody tool aside and pressed my bare righ

" I whi

alm, shooting into his marrow and hunting down the microscopic tentacles of Abyssal frost. A horrific shriek-li

denly cleared, replaced by the vivid, p

eaded with gut string, stitching the deep muscl

ut. Ti

m my veins all at once. My knees gave out, and I collapse

ound my shaking shoulders and gently w

hispered, gazing at the immaculate r

p, rhythmic cadence. "His heart is safe. But repairing his shattered spiritua

the dried blood and grim off his aristocratic face, revea

skin toward his collarbone, the plat

then twice, before settling into a s