Chapter 144

• Riley’s POV
• "I've already paid with a broken leg and a stolen organ," I said quietly, voice like steel wrapped in silk. "That should be more than enough to repay them for the so-called ‘gift of life.’"
• Kael—no, I refuse to call him my brother anymore—stared at me like I’d slapped him. The words weren’t meant to wound, but they cut deep anyway, slicing through the falsehoods he still clung to like a coward hiding from a storm.