Liora was held suspended in the ritual room by a net of symbols and black stones. As the siphon pulsed louder, it felt like it was pulling her mind away.
Ezra watched in silence.
Felix worked the bindings, his focus razor-sharp.
“She’s fighting it,” he muttered.
Ezra placed a hand on the siphon.
“Then give her something worth losing.”
He activated the anchor stone.
A projection of Lex flickered before her, broken, begging, dying.
“Stop” Liora whispered.
“You can’t save him,” Ezra whispered back. “But you can end this.”
Liora screamed.
The glyphs flared.
Lex hit the outer ward like a bolt of fury, slicing through the glyph-veils with nothing but his blood and will. The air trembled as he entered the chamber.
“Let her go.”
Ezra didn’t flinch.
“Too late.”
Lex raised both hands
