Chapter 42 Shadows In The Vein

• I didn’t sleep all night. Every time I shut my eyes, there was Liora—chalky skin, breath rattling all weird and uneven. Selene’s words just kept looping in my skull: This isn’t ordinary.
• By the time the sun started poking through the curtains, I had already parked myself at Liora’s bedside, fingers tangled up in hers. She felt hotter than a fever but was still shivering like she had just jumped into an ice bath.
• Selene slipped in, quiet as a ghost, cradling a bowl of steaming, herbal-smelling water. “She’s worse,” she muttered—real low, like the walls might be eavesdropping. “The fever is moving way too fast. I’ve seen wounds fester slower than this.”