Chapter 6 · The Blood Vault

"Don't touch the seal." Julian's hand locked around my wrist before my fingers reached the black metal crown.

His grip was hot. Too hot. Blood had soaked through the side of his shirt, and every breath scraped out of him like his ribs were trying to cut their way free.

I twisted hard. "Let go."

"You heard me."

"And you heard me when I said I'm not leaving without it."

The vault hummed around us. Blue lines crawled across the walls, waking one by one. In the middle of the chamber, the Vale family seal floated above a stone pedestal. It looked smaller than I remembered from the old portraits. Smaller. Meaner.

Six sharp points. A dark center. A thin red line pulsing under the metal like a trapped vein.

Julian stepped between me and the pedestal. His shoulder brushed mine. His body blocked the seal, but he could barely stand.

"You're bleeding on the floor," I said.

"I'm aware."

"Then move."

"No."

I shoved his chest.

He caught my other wrist and drove me back against the vault door. The metal slammed into my spine.