Chapter 27 · Trust me. If I ever make this romantic, shoot me

"Trust me. If I ever make this romantic, shoot me."

"With what?"

"I'll find something."

Raven turned toward the door. "Stay behind me."

"Absolutely not."

"The seal reacts to ash."

"The seal is church property."

"Then your church can explain why it tried to bite me."

Black smoke curled from the broken crest and wrapped around his fingers before he touched it. The ash in his veins surged. A warning flashed across his vision, sharp and pale.

ASHEN SYSTEM: PRIMORDIAL RESONANCE DETECTED.

SEALED MEMORY CORE.

SOUL COST: UNKNOWN.

Raven pulled his hand back.

Seraphina saw the hesitation. "What did you see?"

"Nothing."

"Raven."

"Keep using that tone and I might start thinking you care."

She stepped closer. Her gauntlet pressed against his chest, right over the place where his heart beat. "Open the door."

"You're ordering me?"

"Yes."

"Your command voice is getting better."

"Your survival instinct is getting worse."

"You want me to touch an ancient seal that might strip my soul out through my fingernails."

"You have a system that eats souls."

"It eats ash."

"It ate a rift core."

"That was different."

"Of course it was. Everything is different when you do it.