Chapter 16 · Pay Up

"Get your hands off me!" Ella screamed, slamming her palms against the shimmering gold barrier. The impact sent a jolt of searing heat up her arms, but she didn't pull back. She couldn't.

On the other side, Lucas was coughing, blood staining his teeth, but he was grinning. He held the lotus jade pendant high, the heirloom that should have been hers. The gem pulsed with a rhythmic, sickly light, fueling the Executioner's Seal that kept her caged.

"Look at you," Lucas spat, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Still the same desperate little rat. You think a few shadow tricks make you a queen? You're nothing without this jade. You're a nameless ghost, Ella."

"Give it back," she hissed, her voice trembling not with fear, but with a rage so thick it tasted like copper. "That belongs to my mother. Give it back or I'll rip your throat out with my bare teeth."

Behind her, a cold, low chuckle vibrated through the air. Cain materialized from the shadows, his presence like a sudden drop in temperature. He didn't look at Lucas.