Chapter 9 · Inside the Blood Ring

The stone cracked under Cole's boots and he knew he'd fucked up. Not the chains breaking. Not Ivy's eyes gone silver. The sound the floor made when the second chain shattered—like a lock turning over, deep in the temple's bones.

Red light split the ground in a perfect circle around him. Twenty feet across. The line burned itself into the stone, smoking, and Cole could smell his own sweat going sour. He tried to step over it. His boot hit something that wasn't there and bounced back hard enough to knock him on his ass.

The Taker laughed. It was still crawling up from the edge of the platform, body bent wrong, too many joints in the arms. Its voice came out wet. "Blood ring, Cole Ash. Old magic. The kind your guild forgot how to break."

Cole pushed himself up. His hands were shaking. The magic Ivy had ripped out of him was gone but he could still feel the empty space it left, like a tooth pulled too fast. He reached for the air and tried to pull heat, tried to shape anything. Nothing came. The red line pulsed and he felt it in his chest—