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Chapter 13: The Thing That Stayed

Author: Timothy
last update publish date: 2026-05-30 16:56:49

Cassian was burning alive in her arms.

Lyra felt it through the blood soaking her sleeves.

Heat radiated off him like fever left too long unattended. His body shook once—hard enough to rattle his teeth—then went still.

Too still.

“Cassian.”

Nothing.

The crypt smelled like dust, blood, and extinguished fire.

Above them, the palace groaned as if settling back onto its foundations after a nightmare. Broken crowns lay scattered around Lyra’s knees. Bone fragments. Rusted gold. Pieces of kings.

The
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