Aether's Obsession
If I look at him, I will stop thinking clearly, and I cannot afford to stop thinking clearly.
"I don't want to hurt you," Veyra says, and the terrible thing is, I believe her. Not because she's kind, she isn't, but because it's true in the specific way that a surgeon doesn't want to damage the organ they're extracting. "The vitality in your blood is the most valuable substance on this planet right now. It would be wasteful to damage the vessel."
"And yet," I say.
"And yet," she agrees, "you are in the way." Her accent heavy