Chapter 25 · The Pit Knows Her Name

The blood hit the stone and something woke up.

I felt it before I saw it. A pull in my chest like someone yanked a chain I didn't know was there. The mark on my shoulder flared hot, then cold, then hot again. My knees almost buckled.

Eli was still holding my wrist. His thumb pressed into the cut he'd made, squeezing out more blood. It dripped onto the black stone platform in the center of the chamber, pooling in grooves I hadn't noticed before. Old grooves. Worn smooth.

"There," Eli said. His voice was soft. Almost gentle. "Now it knows you."

I yanked my hand back. He let me.

The chamber was huge. Bigger than it looked from the doorway. The walls curved up into darkness, lined with iron cages stacked three high. Most were empty. A few weren't. I could see shapes inside them, hunched or lying flat. No one moved. No one made a sound.

The air smelled like rust and something worse. Something that had been rotting for years.

"What the hell is this place?" I said.

Eli smiled. Not the fake politician smile he'd worn upstairs. This one was real. "The blood pit.