Kael's POV
The second her legs buckled, every rational thought in my head burned away and left only one instinct standing.
Do not let her die the way he died.
I did not know why my aunt's ghost chose that exact moment to claw its way back into my mind, but it did, sharp and merciless, her grief from years ago tangled up with the terror clawing through my chest right now. I had grown up hearing about a child who slipped away one slow day at a time until there was nothing left to save, my aunt's voice always breaking on the same words whenever she told the story. I was not going to stand here and watch it happen again, not to her, not to Lyra, not while I still had a body that could move between her and the blade.
I moved before I finished the thought.
I caught her before she hit the gr
