Chapter 6 · The Door Beneath the Frost

"Take your hand off my mark, Calian." I caught his wrist before his gloved fingers could close over the rune burning beneath my skin.

He didn't pull away.

His thumb pressed against my pulse instead, slow and deliberate. Heat pushed through the leather. His eyes stayed on mine, cold and sharp enough to cut.

"You reached for it first."

"I reached for the door."

"Same thing."

The underground chamber gave a hard metallic groan around us. The black door stood three steps away, sunk into the stone wall with no hinges, no handle, and no keyhole I could see. Thin red lines crawled across its surface, answering the white scar burned into my palm.

Calian's key hung between us.

It wasn't made of metal. It looked like a strip of black ice carved into the shape of a long tooth. Red light moved inside it, beating in time with the pact mark beneath my skin.

I tried to yank my hand free.

He caught my waist before I could stumble back.

"Let go."

"You can barely stand."

"I stood through an execution trial. I can handle a door."

"This isn't a door."

"Then stop treating it like your personal weapon."