Chapter 12: The Wound and the Salve

The corrupted ore pulsed on the rough-hewn table between Anya and me, a tiny, malevolent heart of green light. It was the proof I needed, a direct link between Thorne’s secret mining operation and the Blight. But the victory felt like ash in my mouth. Anya’s message—that Kaden was “preoccupied” and there were “things he couldn’t say”—echoed in my mind, a taunt. He was helping me, but from a distance, through an intermediary who seemed to be a permanent fixture in his life. “Where...