She bit her lip, turning away from him. "I'm not dying. I'm just not immortal anymore."
Emotions threatened to erupt from his chest, heedless of his command for control. Her words made no sense. She was human. Humans were not—
"The jewel," she explained, starting to pace the expanse of his room, "when I wished it away, the object—the intent—was gone, but the power remained. It needed somewhere to go."
His brother had never spoken of their time together in the meidou, stating only that he'd found her and that the threat had been neutralized.
"So it chose a new host," he surmised, latching onto the information as the scent of decay continued to assault his nostrils.