Page 151 of Savage Crown

The treasure shines.

The runes flicker like dying stars.

And the book demands more.

Pain lances through me.

Not physical. Deeper.

Like something inside me is unraveling, being picked apart strand by strand.

"A life was taken. A life must be given."

I freeze.

It doesn’t mean blood.

It means something worse.

It means me.

Not my body.

Not my life.

My soul.

The book waits for my answer.

The whispers coil around me.

"Do you accept?"

"Do you give?"

I stare down at her.

At the woman who stole my secrets.

At the woman who made me want something more.

At the woman who is mine.

I have spent my life trading information, selling lies, dealing in power.

But I have never given anything.

Not until now.

"Yes."

I let it take me.

The world splits open.

My body locks, shakes, burns?—

Something inside me is being carved away.

---