Chapter 32 · The Door at the Top

The marks weren't fading.

Evira pressed her palm against the mirror. The other version of herself pressed back, black veins crawling up her neck like roots looking for water. Marcus had said something about anchor points. About how blood summoning always left a trace. She wasn't listening anymore.

"How long do I have?" she asked.

Marcus didn't answer right away. That told her enough.

She turned. Felix was still strapped to the altar in the center of the room, eyes half-closed, breathing shallow. The rift above him pulsed with that sick purple light. Every few seconds it twitched wider. Something on the other side was pushing.

"Evira." Marcus's voice was low. Careful. "We need to shut it down before—"

"Before what? Before he dies or before something comes through?"

"Both."

She crossed the room. Her boots stuck to the floor. Blood. Some of it hers. Most of it from the summoning circle Vivian had carved into the stone. The whole place smelled like copper and burnt matches.

Felix's eyes cracked open when she got close. "Ev?"

"I'm here." She grabbed his hand. His fingers were cold. Too cold. "I'm getting you out."

"You should run." His voice was barely there.