Chapter 24 · The Blood Inside Him

The floor cracks open beneath Drake's knees.

Not all at once. Just a hairline fracture spreading from the blood-print lock, black and wet like something's bleeding up from underneath. The air smells wrong—copper and stone and something older, something that makes my teeth ache.

Drake's still holding the key. His hand's shaking so hard the metal rattles against the lock mechanism.

"Get back," Lucas says. He's got his gun up but he's aiming at the floor, at the widening crack, and that tells me everything. Whatever's down there, bullets won't help.

Vera's voice cuts through from the other side of the sealed door. "Drake. You don't know what you're doing."

"Yeah?" Drake's voice comes out ragged. "Then tell me."

Silence. Then metal screeching—she's trying to force the door mechanism. The Guild taught her how to break into anything, but this lock wasn't made by the Guild. This lock was here before the Guild existed.

"The blood pact isn't a curse," Vera says finally. Her voice is different now. Careful. Like she's talking someone off a ledge. "It's a seal. Your mother put it there, Drake. She put it in you."

I look at Drake.