Chapter 25 · The Crown Beneath the Ash

“Take your hand off the seal, Mara.”

Julian’s fingers locked around my wrist before I could press my blood into the black stone.

His grip burned. Behind us, the vault door shuddered, and blue light crawled through its cracks.

“Let go.”

“You lied to me once tonight.”

“I lied about why I came here.”

“You lied about what the seal would do.”

“I didn’t know.”

His jaw tightened. “You always say that right before somebody gets hurt.”

The stone pulsed beneath my palm.

Once.

Twice.

The temple groaned around us. Something huge had shifted under the floor.

Julian shoved me against the vault door. His shoulder pinned mine. His breath brushed my cheek, hot and sharp with blood and smoke.

“Tell me what happens if you finish this.”

“I close the vault.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“If I knew, I’d tell you.”

“No. You’d use it.”

My free hand slid beneath my coat and found the blade strapped against my ribs.

I didn’t draw it.

Julian still noticed.

His eyes dropped, then lifted back to mine. “Try it.”

“You’re bleeding through your shirt.”

“Still faster than you.”

“Confident for a man using one arm.