Chapter 27 · The Man in the Coffin

The name burned in Vivian's vision like a brand. Evan Ashcroft. Her brother. Dead three years. Carved into the spell's core like a signature on a death warrant.

Lucas caught her as her knees buckled. "Vivian—"

"Don't." She shoved him off, blood still dripping from her palm where she'd cut herself to force the oath open. The study spun. Her brother's name glowed in her mind's eye, written in magic that tasted like ash and old copper. "Don't you dare say his name."

He stepped back, hands raised. His face was chalk-white. "I didn't know. I swear to you, I didn't—"

"Liar." The word came out flat. She pressed her bleeding hand against the desk to steady herself. The oath still hummed under her skin, a living thing wrapped around her ribs. Her brother's blood. They'd used her brother's blood to build this cage. "You've had seven years to remember. Seven years to tell me."

"The oath wipes it." His voice cracked. "Every time I get close to the truth, it—Vivian, please, I'm trying—"

"Trying." She laughed, and it sounded wrong even to her own ears. "You stood there and watched me sign. You knew what it would do.