Lyra’s POV
The infirmary was designed to be a sterile sanctuary buried deep within the inner keep, but the scent of blood, rot, and dark magic had followed us inside, clinging to my clothes like a heavy, suffocating shroud.
I stood beside the narrow iron cot, my arms crossed tightly over my chest to keep my hands from shaking. In grim silence, I watched as Head Healer Maura and her three frantic assistants worked over Selena.
The Princess looked like a porcelain doll that had been violently cracked down the center. Her skin was a translucent, deathly white, save for the dark, bruised veins spiderwebbing up her neck where the Wolfsbane had ravaged her circulatory system.
My blood, laced with Fenrir’s Prime venom and the Devourer’s raw energy, had stopped her heart from failing entirely,
