The scent of scorched flesh filled the infirmary. Not just Endymion’s—but the burn of something deeper. Something vile.
Louise’s voice cut through the thick air, steely and unyielding.
“I need all of you to stand back,” she commanded, her tone leaving no room for argument. “The last one burrowed itself into his back. I’m going to extract it now.”
She shifted Endymion carefully onto his side, and that’s when I saw it.
A hole. Small—no bigger than a fingertip—but deep, angry, and surrounded by blackened veins. Like something had chewed its way in… and refused to leave.
The room went still.
Then Fenrir stepped closer, his curiosity edging into something darker.
“How did he end up this way?”
Leonidas’s voice answered, calm but laced with fury.
“He was helping the children evacuate whe
