"It's called siphoning," she says. "It's the signature of the Eighth House, which is why it was imperative to get this key ahead of them. A necromancer draws on the life energy of a willing living being to reinforce their own power, converting the thalergy to thanergy. It is dangerous for the source."

"Gideon insisted," she continues, her expression tight. "Both our lives were put at risk. I had to enter a highly-destructive avulsion field and dismantle a necromantic structure to extract the key, relying on her spirit for the power to shield myself."

"Septimus undersold the danger. If I had known what we were getting into I might not have gone in. But Nav was incredible. If she had wavered I would've been disintegrated instantly." Her real teeth worry the painted ones on her lower lip in a spot already worn pink.

"She is sleeping it off now. I've asked the Sixth to check her health, they're the closest we have to medics, and I nearly trust Palamedes Sextus." Almost.