Zarius bolted toward the back door.
Yulia threw herself after him and drove her fist into his spine—again, and again—trying to pin him in place with pure stubborn force.
"You bastard—let me go!" she shouted, her voice cracking. "I'm not leaving without Mori!"
He didn't even glance back.
"Veda—ru—"
And then he wasn't there.
No scream. No impact.
Just a clean, brutal absence.
Yulia's fist kept going and cut through empty air. Her balance snapped with it. She hit the floor hard on her backside.
"Ow—!"
Heat shot up her lower back. She sucked in air through her teeth and rubbed the spot with shaking fingers—more annoyed than scared for a half second—
Then she looked up.
Her eyes widened.
"Za… rius?"
The planks in front of her weren't stained with blood.
They were dusted with something else.
Gray fragments. Fine powder. Jagged flecks scattered across the wood like what you'd find after something old gets crushed into the floor.
Her hand moved before she could talk herself out of it.
She touched the ground.
The ash clung to her fingertips.
Warm.
Her breath caught.
She pulled her hand back and stared at what coated her skin.
Her jaw tightened so hard it hurt. A tear gathered at the corner of her eye and stayed there, trapped.
"What the hell… is happening…"
She forced herself upright.
The room tilted. Her legs trembled under her weight like they couldn't agree to hold her anymore.
"M… Mori…"
She tried to step.
Her knee folded.
She reached for the wall and missed it.
The strength drained out of her in one ugly drop, and she went down again.
Her knee slammed into the splintered edge of a rotting board near the entrance. The sharp rim tore her skin open instantly. Blood ran down her shin.
She didn't scream.
Her breathing broke into short, uneven bursts as she dropped to all fours.
Crawl.
That was all she had.
Her wounded knee dragged over the floorboards, leaving thin red streaks behind her. Pain flashed hot and sharp—then turned into a constant burn she couldn't afford to listen to.
Her vision blurred at the edges. Still, she pulled herself toward the front door that opened onto the courtyard.
Outside—
Morgana released Moriana's ear.
The torn lobe hung shredded and soaked in blood and saliva, like something bitten off and chewed for fun.
Moriana's whole body trembled violently. Exim pulsed erratically around her, flickering in unstable waves that made the air feel wrong.
Morgana rested her head against Moriana's shoulder.
Tears slid quietly down Morgana's face and soaked into Moriana's blood-stained clothes.
"You criminal…" Morgana whispered. "You killed your friends… you scattered their remains across the inn."
She closed her eyes, as if savoring the thought.
"How cruel…"
Moriana's face was drenched in tears.
She bit her lower lip so hard the skin split. Blood slid down her chin.
Her chest heaved.
A sob tried to form—
Her throat locked.
All that came out were broken, irregular breaths, shallow and jagged, like she was being forced to breathe through a chokehold.
Morgana slowly straightened, drawing her knees to her chest again, rocking just once.
"I know that feeling," she murmured. "I know it very well."
The courtyard held still for a beat—
Then the inn's front door creaked open behind them.
Morgana's eyes shifted lazily toward the sound.
Yulia spilled out of the entrance like she'd been thrown. She tumbled down the small steps and rolled once before collapsing onto the dirt, bracing herself on her left elbow.
Morgana blinked.
Her eyes widened.
"Oh?"
A faint smile curved her lips.
"Looks like someone is immune…"
The smile deepened, soft and pleased in the wrong way.
"How very interesting."
Morgana turned back to Moriana—too fast—until her face was inches from hers.
"Hey… Hey…" she murmured, tilting her head.
"Should I help her? Should I bring her over to join us?"
Moriana didn't even look at Morgana.
Her wide eyes locked on Yulia.
The only one left.
The only one still moving.
Her head dipped slowly, chin dropping toward her chest like her neck finally gave up.
Her lips trembled.
Then something inside her split.
The sound didn't come out clean.
It tore out of her.
Not just crying.
Not just screaming.
Both at once—one strangling the other.
A raw, shredded wail ripped from deep in her throat, rising into a hoarse scream before collapsing into choking sobs, then surging back again like her lungs couldn't decide whether to break or fight.
Exim answered it.
Wild.
Uncontrolled.