Linked by Blood and Bone의 모든 챕터: 챕터 41 - 챕터 45

Chapter 41: A New Normal"A ghost who lost its sheet is remarkably accurate," Zeyric muttered, shifting slightly on the narrow infirmary cot with a soft wince that mirrored the dull ache still lingering in Thalen’s chest. "Though given that we nearly blew the entire administrative wing into the lower catacombs, I’d say looking like a ghost is a minor penalty.""A minor penalty," Thalen echoed dryly, turning his head on the stiff pillow to better observe the way the afternoon light caught the dark circles beneath Zeyric’s eyes. "You collapsed like a felled timber right after hurling Malakor into a stone wall. If Professor Starwyn hadn't caught you, you’d have cracked your skull on the cobblestones.""And if you hadn't intercepted Malakor’s gravity spear with your own sternum, I wouldn't have had a functional nervous system left to collapse with," Zeyric retorted, his tone dropping the dry humor for something sharper, more immediate. He propped himself up on one elbow, ignoring his own

Chapter 43: The Library’s Secret"If Librarian Thomas catches us down here with an iron poker, he’s going to suspend us until our hair turns gray," Zeyric whispered, his hand clamping tightly around the handle of the rusted tool as the heavy iron gate gave a loud, metallic shriek. "And considering my hair is already half-ruined by your dismal locking-picking skills, I’d prefer not to push our luck.""My lock-picking skills are entirely adequate for a restricted academic vault that hasn't seen a fresh grease application since the second age," Thalen shot back, leaning his weight against the cold stone wall just behind the restricted grimoire section. "And keep your voice down. The acoustics in this library are designed to amplify treasonous whispering.""It wouldn't be treason if we were actually stealing something useful instead of hunting for a mysterious floor grate based on a cracked margin note," Zeyric muttered, though he wedged the tip of the poker into the seam of the flagstone

Chapter 45: Panic Room"The hinge is finally shifting, but so is the entire foundation," Zeyric hissed, his boots sliding another inch across the grit-covered floor as the heavy iron grate shrieked against centuries of accumulated grime. "If this stone arch collapses on us, write a very flattering obituary about how I was always right.""I will write nothing of the sort," Thalen snapped back, planting his palm harder against Zeyric’s back to lend his own weight to the effort. The physical exertion instantly bled through their connection, making Thalen’s breath hitch in his own throat in a mirror of Zeyric’s strain. "If the arch collapses, we die together under three tons of masonry, and your ghost will still be complaining about my choice of reading material.""Only because your reading material has led us directly into a pitch-black subterranean void that smells intensely of wet iron and very old mistakes," Zeyric muttered. With one final, desperate heave, he threw his entire weight