"Stop."
Kairo froze mid-step.
The voice was low, frayed, but familiar enough to cut through him instantly.
Eli's voice.
His head snapped down, eyes narrowing at the boy draped over his shoulder.
Bound wrists, trembling lashes, those wide yellow eyes—still dilated, still unstable.
But this time, his lips had moved.
"What?" Kairo asked flatly, gaze sharp.
Eli's mouth opened again, the words crawling out faint, broken. "Stop… don't… go there."
Not a curse. Not a threat. Not the vicious bile he'd been spitting at him minutes ago.
He was speaking. Coherent. Almost normal.
Kairo's chest tightened, suspicion flickering through his thoughts. 'No. Wait. I can't trust this yet. He could just be mumbling—another trick from that thing in his head.'
"What are you saying, Eli?" Kairo's voice cut low, deliberate. His black eyes narrowed, testing. "Speak up."
