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“Tell me later,” he roars “There’s no time now”

He’s right I won’t have the chance to explain, not ords But I have to let him know He thinks he can defeat this beast, that if they keep working on the tendrils, they’ll eventually chop their way through to the body He believes they can kill it, like any other demon

He’s wrong

I clutch his small, clean hands and use the saasps as I force-feed him the information Then his eyes widen and a look of shocked desperation crosses his face

“How?” he croaks

“I don’t know,” I sob

Shars loose It rains to the floor in a shower of bones and flesh A few of the zoht

Beranabus is thinking hard and fast, trying to turn this in our favour He’s always been able to outwit deot the better of him

Even in recent years, ancient, battered, befuddled, his cunning gave hie He can’t believe it will fail hi like the Shadow

The lines of his face go smooth He half-nods and his lips twitch at the corners My heart leaps with hope He’s seen so He has a plan!

“Tell Kernel,” he wheezes, standing straight and scattering a horde of zo flies “Tell him to find me”

“You want hter He—”

“Just tell hihs, then bends and kisses my forehead “I loved you as a child, Bec, and I love you still I alill”

Through the brief contact, I catch a gli It’s perilous He probably won’t make it out alive But it’s the only way Our only hope

“Don’t watch,” he says, and his voice is guttural, unnatural, as his vocal cords begin to thicken and change “I don’t want you to see me like this”