Chapter 29 · Ash Ledger - Chapter 29: The Name Under the Stone

"Get up." Mara's hand was on my shoulder, pulling. "Whatever that thing did to you, we don't have time."

I couldn't move. The stone heart's mark was still burning its way through my ribs, carving lines I could feel but couldn't see. My chest felt like someone had pressed a brand straight through to my spine.

"Rowan." Her voice went sharp. "They're coming down."

Bootsteps. Multiple. Echoing from the stairwell we'd come through. I forced myself up, one hand braced against the vault wall. The stone behind us was still glowing, that sick red pulse that made my teeth ache.

"How many?"

"Six. Maybe eight." Mara had her knife out, the one she'd cut her palm with. Blood still on the blade. "Ilan's colors."

"He doesn't know about the other passage."

"You sure?"

I wasn't. But the stone had shown me the way out when it branded me, the old smuggler's route that ran under the north wall. If Ilan knew, he would've sealed it years ago.

"We move now," I said. "Before they box us in."

Mara grabbed my wrist. Her fingers were cold, slick with her own blood. "You can walk?"

"Have to."

She didn't let go.