“It’s ready for you, Cirian.”
Bastien carried the stone bowl over to me, careful not to spill the contents.
I tapped into that familiar heat in my chest, spreading it through my limbs and allowing it to course through every vein. Leaning over the bowl, I let out a breath, another cloud of cerulean smoke swirling over the contents, causing them to boil.
Lynette let out a breath of her own, her eyes going wide.
“The Source is with you.”
I nodded as Bastien returned to the counter, transferring the readied poison into another phial. “It was Sancha’s final effort. She knew that it was the only way to keep the Umbral from extinguishing the Source.”
“But it’s still out there?” Lynette asked.
“Yes. Wearing Sancha’s face. And I intend to put an end to it.”
Lynette let out another laugh, this one high and cruel. “Slay the monsters all you like, Cirian. Just make sure you don’t become one in the process.”
A chill shot down my spine at her words.
Azrael reappeared, tucking the communication device into his pocket.
“Are we ready?”
Bastien nodded, grabbing the first of the phials from the counter and squaring his shoulders. “Let’s wake him up.”
Lynette remained silent while we took our positions around the table. Looking down at Tobias’s placid expression, it seemed almost cruel what was about to take place. But I reminded myself of the reward waiting at the end of the suffering and steeled myself for what was to come. Taking his hand in mine, I ran my finger over the sapphire-like stone embedded in his palm. It had been dark for too long, and I wanted nothing more than to see it shine again with life. I was sure that Bastien and Azrael felt the same as well.
Tobias had slept for long enough.
Azrael took the opposite side of the table, Bastien standing over Tobias’s head with the first of the phials. Even with the success of Lynette’s awakening, he looked petrified. When his golden gaze flickered up to me, I nodded my reassurance, and he steeled himself for what needed to be done.
The first phial went down with no issue, much like Lynette. Tobias swallowed the concoction with no ill reaction, and as I held onto his hand, I could have sworn I felt the twitch of a muscle. The second phial also went down without protest, Tobias’s breathing remaining unchanged as he lay on the table. As Bastien pulled his mouth open for the third phial, I caught him by the wrist, stopping the progress. I felt each of their gazes fall on me, but I couldn’t look away from Tobias and the small, dark spot that appeared under his left eye.
“What is that?” I questioned, pointing to the pea-sized blot as it doubled in size in the blink of an eye.
Bastien quickly stoppered the phial, tucking it into his pocket as he came around the table to get a view from my vantage.
“It’s spreading,” Azrael added, a panic in his voice that I’d rarely heard.
“What’s happening?” Lynette called from her table, craning her head to try to see over us.
“Bastien?”
His golden gaze had locked on the spreading blot, now covering most of Tobias’s cheek. Swearing under his breath, he muttered an incantation, holding out two fingers directly over the spot. Green light collected at his fingertips, creating an incision about half an inch long in the bruise-like section. Black ichor bubbled from the site, spilling out onto the table, thin as water.
But the blot didn’t stop spreading, now eclipsing the left side of Tobias’s face. His breath hitched at that moment, a sputtering, wet sound that drained any heat from my veins.
“Bastien!” I cried helplessly.
He was dying. I gripped onto his hand, infusing him with as much magic as I could muster in the split second. Immediately, my mouth filled with the taste of bile, my nose stinging with the stench of rot and decay.
I knew that stench.
“The Umbral,” I said, wanting to shout it, but I couldn’t get the words around the lump in my throat. Bastien reacted at once, moving the hand he’d made the incision with away and placing a hand over his chest.
Azrael followed his lead, though his brow twisted with confusion. “It’s inside of him? How is that possible? He has not been anywhere near the Cradle!”
“I don’t know,” I seethed, grasping Tobias’s hand as the tether in my chest flared to life at the touch. “We need to pull it out. Just like we did for you two.”
