The second body entered before the final audit glyph finished writing, and Lucan crossed without falling or losing his balance.
He stepped through the black gap with both feet beneath him, while one raised hand reached toward the pursuit line behind his shoulder.
Lucan's material body looked almost whole, though a narrow red cut crossed his throat before continuing beneath the collar and widening with each breath.
The cut carried no blood, yet every breath pulled its edges farther apart across the crossing portion of his chest.
Lucan saw Hajin holding Cessy's wrist, then looked toward Vella's gold without making any move toward either person while the broken route tugged behind him.
"Keep treating the wounds that belong to her," he said. "Leave the order marks attached until I cut the pursuit."
Vella did not move until Cessy answered for herself, and her gold remained suspended above the branch she could not safely enter.
