Chapter 2

Raven pulled against the cuffs.

The nearest guard raised his sword and swung for Raven's neck instead of touching the lever.

The blade came down.

Raven twisted his shoulder. Steel scraped his collar and cut a shallow line across his skin. Heat snapped through the silver runes.

Something under the platform roared.

Raven felt ash pour through the crack.

Not smoke. Not dust. Ash with weight and pressure, crawling over his hands and sinking into his skin like hot sand.

The system opened again.

ASH RESONANCE: 12%

NEW CONDITION MET.

FORBIDDEN SOURCE WITHIN REACH.

SIPHON?

Raven stared at the words for one stunned beat.

The guard raised his sword again.

"Raven!" Seraphina shouted.

He grabbed the guard's wrist.

The man was bigger, armored, and standing on solid ground. Raven was chained to a block with blood in his mouth.

It didn't matter.

He pulled.

Ash exploded from the guard's sword and raced up Raven's arm. The weapon shrieked as black flakes peeled from its metal. The guard dropped it and staggered back.

Raven's cuffs cracked.

The system flashed.

ASH SYPHONING: ACTIVE

SOURCE: CONSECRATED STEEL

PROGRESS: 1/10

"What did you do?" the guard yelled.

Raven slammed his forehead into the man's nose.

The guard fell hard.

"I borrowed something," Raven said.

Another guard rushed him from the left. Raven kicked out, but the chain between his cuffs caught his ankle. The blow only clipped the man's knee.

Seraphina moved faster.

Her sword cleared its sheath with a clean metallic hiss. She struck the guard's weapon aside, then drove her elbow into his throat.

He dropped, choking.

Raven stared at her. "You just saved me."

"I saved the platform. Don't flatter yourself."

"Your elbow was very personal."

She turned the sword toward him. Holy markings ran along the broad blade, glowing blue-white.

"Get off the block."

"The cuffs are still on."

"Then break them."

"You first."

Her eyes sharpened. "You are in no position to bargain."

"You just admitted the collar is linked to me. If you cut me, you feel it. If I die, maybe you die too. So, yeah, I think we can bargain."

The color drained from her face, barely.

Raven caught it.

"You didn't know," he said.

"I knew enough."

"You knew nothing."

She stepped close enough that the tip of her sword touched the cracked collar. The blade's heat pressed against his throat.

"Try me," she said.

"Cut it."

Her brows drew together.

"Go on," Raven said. "You want me dead. The Prelate wants me dead. Put your pretty sword through the silver and see who screams first."

The sword stayed at his neck.

Her face was inches from his. He could see the tiny pulse beneath her jaw. Her breath came slow, but her grip was too tight around the hilt.

"You enjoy this," she said.

"You leaning over me? A little."

The blade pressed harder.

"Careful."

"You keep telling me that like I haven't spent my whole life ignoring it."

The platform buckled again.

A section of stone collapsed behind Seraphina. A guard fell through the opening with a scream. Black light flashed beneath him, and the scream cut off.

Seraphina looked down.

Raven used the moment to yank his wrists apart.

The ash inside the cuffs answered him.

The iron split.

One broken half flew into the crowd. Panic spread through the square as people trampled one another toward the gates.

Seraphina recovered fast. She grabbed Raven by the collar of his coat and shoved him against the upright execution frame.

Her sword crossed his throat.

"You broke a consecrated restraint," she said. "You siphoned temple steel. You attacked a guard. Give me one reason not to end this now."

Raven's back struck the wood. Her body blocked his escape. The armor across her chest was cold against his coat, but her hand at his collar was warm.

"Because you're standing on the wrong side of the crack."

"That's not a reason."

"It is when the crack opens."

"What do you know about it?"

"Enough to know it isn't a breach. It's a mouth."

Her eyes flicked toward the broken stone.

"You expect me to believe you've seen one before?"

"No. I expect you to keep me alive long enough to prove it."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because if I die, whatever is under us gets the ash in my blood. Then it won't need a doorway. It'll have a body."

Seraphina's sword didn't move.

"You're lying."

"Then kill me and be right."

The crack widened.

A hooked black limb punched through the stone behind Raven's shoulder. It scraped across the platform, scattering chunks of rock. The limb was too long, jointed in the wrong places, and covered in glowing red lines.

Seraphina shoved Raven sideways as it struck.

The creature's claw tore through the execution frame. Wood exploded over Raven's head.

He hit the platform on one knee. Seraphina landed beside him, one hand braced against the stone.

"That wasn't a mouth," she said.

"No. That was a finger."

"You could have led with that."

"You were busy threatening me."

The creature pulled itself higher. A second limb hooked over the edge of the rift.

The guards opened fire with bolt launchers from the lower steps. The bolts struck the creature and burned away before they could bite.

Odran shouted from the balcony, "Seal the platform! Seal it now!"

White-robed priests ran toward the outer runes.

Raven saw the black seal on their wrists.

The same mark as the dead knight.

The same mark as Odran's necklace.

"Seraphina," he said.

"What?"

"Look at their wrists."

She glanced over.

Her expression changed.

"Those are emergency wardens."

"They are feeding the rift."

"That's impossible."

"Then watch."

One priest knelt at a rune and cut his palm over it. Blood slid into the groove.

The crack widened another foot.

The creature beneath them made a wet, grinding sound.

Seraphina rose, sword ready. "Priests! Step away from the seal!"

The nearest priest looked up. His eyes were completely black.

"Commander," he said, smiling, "the offering has not reached the deep."

He drove both hands into the rune.

The platform erupted.

Raven flew backward. Heat punched through his coat. He hit the side railing and nearly went over it.

Seraphina caught his wrist.

Her fingers locked around him just before he fell.

For one sharp second, Raven hung over the rift, boots scraping empty air. The darkness below churned with red light.

Seraphina's arm shook under his weight.

"Take my hand!" she yelled.

"You have it."

"Use the other one!"

"It's busy."

"Raven!"

He looked up at her.

Her face was tight with effort. A strand of hair had torn loose and stuck to her cheek. Her grip was slipping.

"Let go," he said.

"No."

"You can't hold me."

"Shut up and climb."

"If you keep me alive, the Prelate will call you a traitor too."

"I said climb."

"You're going to regret this."

"I already regret meeting you."

Raven reached with his free hand and grabbed the railing. The metal burned his palm. Ash crawled from the damaged supports into his fingers.

ASH RESONANCE: 18%

SIPHON AVAILABLE.

SOURCE: PLATFORM FRAME.

Raven pulled.

The railing collapsed under his hand.

Seraphina swore and dropped to one knee. She hooked her arm around the back of his neck, dragging him up against her.

His chest slammed into her armor. Her breath hit his ear.

"Don't you dare fall," she said.

"Bossy."

"I can throw you back down."

"You could. But you won't."

"Why not?"

"Because your hand is shaking."

Her arm tightened around his neck.

"That's from holding you."

"Sure."