Heads snapped up. Eyes widened.
The low murmur of prayers died beneath a rising tide of confusion and cries.
I burst through the doors, chest heaving. Every gaze that had been fixed on Joseph now turned to me—Baro—and the world tilted like a ship in a storm.
Confused faces swirled around me, voices rising to shouts.
But only half the congregation watched me. The other half remained locked on the stage where the lords sat.
Adrian's mind recoiled. A Cold fist around his heart, his blood flowing backward, stomach dropping into nothing.
It wasn't just their words. The weight of his people's stares pressed down like a mountain demanding answers.
He swallowed hard and activated his spirit vision.
His eyes bulged, and he nearly gagged.
Nausea crashed over him as he saw them—five glowing orbs nestled deep in the zott's stomach.
The two guards. The three boys…
Bile rose in his throat, but he forced it down. Say something. Anything.
"A—absurd! I don't see anything in—"
*SNAP*
