Chapter 21 · Blood Chains

Cold stone under my cheek. Copper taste in my mouth.

I rolled onto my side and coughed. Blood spattered the floor—mine. The chains were gone but my wrists were raw, skin split where the magic had burned through.

I pushed up. Mistake. The room spun and I caught myself on something sharp. A stone edge. An altar.

No.

I knew this place. Not the room—I'd never been here—but the carvings. The old language spiraling up the walls. My mother used to trace those symbols on my palm when I was small, before she realized I'd never be vampire enough to matter.

Before she sent me away.

"Awake already." The voice came from behind me. "I thought the transfer would take longer. Your wolf half must be stronger than your mother admitted."

I didn't turn. I focused on breathing. On not throwing up. On the bond—

There. Faint. Kade was alive. Furious, but alive.

"Where am I?" I kept my voice flat.

"The Undercroft. Though I suppose that means nothing to you. Your mother never brought you to council, did she?"

I turned.

Morgana stood in the doorway. She looked different down here—older, sharper. Her eyes reflected red in the torchlight.