The sword didn't stop burning.
Its fire licked along the hilt, down the blade, consuming the air around it with furious heat. The stone wall behind Sophia hissed and cracked from the intensity, and her body… her body was starting to blister where the flames curled around her side. The wound Liam had made wasn't fatal—he had made sure of that—but the fire didn't care. The fire was ruthless. It didn't know friend from foe. It only knew the spirit, and it wanted to devour it.
Sophia's head lolled to the side. She wasn't conscious anymore. Her breathing was shallow. Skin red and angry now from the heat.
Marcus cursed, taking a step forward. "Liam—!"
Jason grabbed his arm and shook his head sharply. "No. Not yet. It's still inside her."
Von was gripping the edge of a cracked pillar, blood still running from his ribs. He didn't speak. He only watched, tight-lipped, every inch of him coiled in tension.
