Chapter 7 · Five Steps to Bleed

"Do not let go of me!" Seraphina shouted as the prison bridge exploded under their boots.

Raven's fingers closed around her wrist a heartbeat before the stone dropped away. Her other hand caught a jagged iron brace, but the metal tore through his glove and bit into his palm.

Below them, the breach opened like a white furnace. Chunks of bridge vanished into it without making a sound. Then the heat hit. Raven's coat snapped upward, and Seraphina's silver hair whipped across his face.

"You heard me!" she yelled. "Pull me up!"

"You have a sword, a holy crest, and enough authority to hang me twice." Raven gritted his teeth. "Use one of those."

"If I could reach my sword, I would be cutting your hand off!"

"There she is. I was worried the fall had made you reasonable."

The iron brace groaned. His shoulder slammed against the wall as Seraphina swung beneath him. Her boots scraped uselessly against empty air. The white glare below turned the edges of her armor blue, then red, then white again.

She looked up at him. No calm commander now.