Chapter 9 · One More Day

The rift was closing. That purple-black edge folding in on itself like a wound trying to seal. Evira lunged forward anyway.

Marcus caught her arm. Hard.

"Let go." She tried to yank free. The cut on her palm was still dripping. Every drop hit the floorboards and hissed. Little wisps of smoke curled up where her blood touched wood. She didn't care. Felix was in there. Vivian's voice had come through. That meant the rift went somewhere real.

Marcus didn't let go. His grip shifted to her wrist. Right over the pulse. "You go in, you don't come out."

"You don't know that."

"I do." His voice was flat. Not angry. Worse. Certain.

The rift shrank to the size of a dinner plate. Then a fist. Then gone. The room went dark except for the lantern on the table. Evira's breath came fast and shallow. Her ribs hurt. Everything hurt. She looked down at Marcus's hand still locked around her wrist and then up at his face.

"He's my brother."

"And you're bait." Marcus let go. Stepped back. He didn't look away. "That's what Vivian wants. Your blood. She'll use Felix to make you walk right into whatever she's built."