Later that night, Lex found himself drawn toward the east wing again.
He hesitated outside Liora’s door. He could feel her unrest like a pulse behind the wood.
Then, he felt a sudden sharp and blinding pain from her.
He burst through the door.
He found Liora on her knees holding her arms tight. The markings on her skin, the ones she had spent weeks trying to remove, now showed. They glowed a bright, electric blue.
She gasped as her eyes went wild. “Make it stop, Lex, it’s burning, I can’t…”
He crossed the room in seconds, dropped beside her, and grabbed her wrists.
“Look at me.”
“I…can’t…”
“You can. Focus on my voice. Just me.”
His own aura surged. His glyphs responded, not with dominance, but resonance.
Their energies collided.
The pain in her skin ebbed, not gone, but dulled
