Chapter 23 · Moonrise Comes Early

The thing in the cage moved closer to the bars.

Ivy couldn't breathe. Couldn't look away. The silhouette was too big to be human—shoulders bunched with muscle, limbs too long, head cocked at an angle that made her spine lock up. The rust on those iron bars wasn't rust at all. It was old blood. Dried in layers. Her name was carved into every single one, over and over, like someone had gone insane doing it.

"Cain." Her voice came out flat. "What is that."

He didn't answer. His breathing had gone shallow behind her, and when she risked a glance back his eyes were fixed on the cage. Not surprised. Not confused. He knew.

"You knew," she said.

Still nothing.

Mara's boots scraped stone somewhere in the dark behind them. Close now. Ivy's pulse hammered in her ears. The blood lock had sealed shut the second they crossed the threshold—she'd heard it click like a vault door. No way out but through.

The creature in the cage shifted again. Moonlight from some crack in the ceiling caught its eyes. Gold.