The words settled over the chamber like a death sentence.
"She's alive," Tansy whispered. "Because Cassian's becoming part of it."
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Cassian stood beneath the dim industrial lights, his bloodied clothes hanging loosely over a body that no longer belonged entirely to him. Something black and organic shifted beneath the skin of his back, following the shape of his spine with slow, deliberate pulses.
Qavael stared at him.
His silver eyes narrowed.
The answer was suddenly obvious.
The Spine was the connection.
The thing keeping Cassian alive.
The thing keeping Galathea alive.
And Qavael had spent the last several minutes trying to destroy it.
Alistair was the first to speak. "If you tear that thing out, you don't know what happens to her."
Qavael didn't look at him.
His massive hands slowly curled into fists, talons scraping against his palms. "I know what happens if I leave it."
His voice was low.
Not angry.
Worse.
Certain.
