Chapter 19 · Ash in the Veins

“Get your hand off me.”

Seraphina’s fingers tightened around Raven’s throat.

Her nails had cut through his collar. Not deep enough to kill him. Deep enough to make every breath scrape.

Her eyes burned red in the dark tunnel.

“Seraphina,” he rasped.

“Don’t use my name.”

“Fine. Commander. Murderous. Completely out of control.”

Her other hand slammed into his chest. The impact drove his back against the forbidden door, and the metal groaned behind him.

“You did this,” she said.

Raven dragged in a thin breath. “I saved your life.”

“You crawled into my mind.”

“You were poisoning yourself.”

“You saw him.”

The pressure on his throat changed. Her grip shook for half a second.

Raven caught it.

“Your precious second-in-command,” he said. “The man who opened the rift.”

Seraphina’s jaw locked.

“Say that again.”

“Your man betrayed you.”

Her clawed fingers tore across his shoulder.

Raven’s coat split. Heat flashed through his arm. He drove his knee between them, not hard enough to break anything, just enough to force her back one step.

One step.

The blood-tether snapped tight.

Pain punched through both of them.

Seraphina stumbled, clutching her ribs.