The Inquisitor was still screaming in the turbine room, his red bandage smoking as Aurelia's royal mana-feedback burned through his sensory array. But a Rift-Hunter's recovery was unnatural. In minutes, his sight would return—and with it, the knowledge that would end us both.
He knew. He had tasted the "Aurelian Pulse." He knew the Princess was the one standing in the dark with the Ghost.
"Vane, guard her," I commanded, my voice dropping into that lethal, sub-zero frequency. "Aurelia, stay with them. If the guards breach the lower bulkhead, use the coolant vents to escape."
"Cassian, where are you going?" Aurelia asked, her hand catching my sleeve. Her eyes were wide, the adrenaline of the sabotage still sparking in her pupils. "He's too dangerous. We got away—let's just go."
"He has your scent, Aurelia," I said, turning to face her. The Void-mask rippled over my features, a smooth, obsidian mirror. "If he speaks to the High Priest, you aren't a Princess anymore. You're a traitor. And I won't let them take you."
Before she could argue, I stepped backward into the shadows.
I used the Void-Step, folding the space between the maintenance level and the turbine floor. I emerged from the steam directly behind the Inquisitor.
The creature was on his knees, his grey robes shredded by the mana-vortex. He was clawing at his red bandage, his hooked staff sparking feebly on the metal grating.
"The... girl..." he rasped, his voice a wet, rattling cough. "The Throne... is rotted... I will tell the Father... I will tell the High Priest..."
"You won't tell anyone," I whispered.
The Inquisitor froze. He tilted his head, his nose twitching. "The Ghost... the little anomaly. You think you can kill a Hunter of the Rift? I have no heart to pierce. I have no blood to spill."
"I'm not going to kill you," I said, stepping into the light. My right hand was glowing with a bruised, violet-black intensity—the Resonance I had absorbed from Aurelia earlier. "I'm going to re-architect you."
I lunged.
The Inquisitor swung his staff, but he was blind and sluggish. I caught the wood of the staff with my left hand, the Void-Skin eating the sparks. My right hand slammed into his throat—the place where his vocal cords should have been.
I didn't strike with physical force. I pushed the Void-Residue deep into his neck, weaving it into a permanent, localized singularity.
"Every time you try to speak," I growled, my face inches from his red bandage, "the Void will consume the sound. Every time you try to write, the ink will vanish. Every time you try to project a thought, the Rift will eat the frequency."
The Inquisitor thrashed, his hands clawing at my wrists. He opened his mouth to scream, but only a hollow, terrifying silence came out. Not even a breath. Just a vacuum that sucked the surrounding steam into his throat.
"You are now the perfect Hunter," I whispered. "You will see everything, and you will be able to tell... nothing."
I released him. He fell back against the turbine housing, his body convulsing as the Void-Lock settled into his essence. He was a living paradox—a creature of information who could no longer communicate.
I vanished before the High Priest's personal guard breached the doors.
When I slid back down the maintenance chute into the pile of scrap, Aurelia was waiting, her hand on her stiletto. When she saw it was me, she nearly collapsed with relief.
"Is he...?"
"He's alive," I said, the Void-mask receding to reveal my pale, exhausted face. I leaned against a rusted battery, my lungs burning. "But he's lost his voice. To the High Priest, he'll look like he was broken by the mana-feedback. He can't implicate you, Aurelia. Not anymore."
Aurelia looked at me, a complex mixture of horror and gratitude in her eyes. She understood what I had done. I hadn't just fought him; I had erased a part of his existence to keep her secret.
I turned to Aurelia.
"Go back to the Solaris Suite. Use the secret passage in the West Wing. If they find you missing, all of this was for nothing.
Aurelia reached out, her fingers catching mine for a fleeting second. "Be careful, Cassian. The High Priest... he isn't like the Voss. He doesn't want money. He wants an Empire of pure light. He'll burn everything to find you."
"Let him try," I said.