Chapter 19 · The Blood Finally Talks

The word cuts through the grinding metal like a gunshot.

"Ivy."

My name. Cole's voice. Broken and raw and the first sound he's made in months that isn't a grunt or a breath. The iron gate is three feet from crushing his ribs and I'm still holding him like that'll do anything, like my arms are enough to stop what's coming.

But the second he says it, something inside me snaps open.

It's not rage. It's not panic. It's cold and it's old and it tastes like rust on my tongue. My vision whites out at the edges and when it clears, my hand is pressed flat against the descending gate. The metal screams. My palm burns. And the gate stops.

I don't know how. I don't care.

Cole's staring at me. Blood's running down his temple and his shirt's soaked through but his eyes are locked on my hand. On the way my fingers are sunk half an inch into solid iron like it's wet clay.

"Move," I hiss.

He rolls out from under the gate and I yank my hand back.