Chapter 26 · Mom Left a Second Lock

"Ivy. Open the gate." Mom's voice came through the thorns as my blood dripped onto the scar across Cain's chest.

I was still kneeling over him. Silver light crawled up his ribs, burning through the blood pact. Cain's fingers clawed at the dirt, but the binding dragged him flat every time he tried to rise.

The voice came again, closer. "Finish what I started."

My stomach twisted. Mom had been dead for years. I'd watched them lower her coffin. I'd thrown dirt onto the lid.

"You're not real," I said.

The thorn gate shivered. A shadow pressed against the other side. It stood too tall to be human.

"I'm as real as the lock I put inside you."

Rex took one step back. His wolves circled the clearing, but none of them went near the silver light. Cain's head snapped up. His eyes flashed gold.

"Elara Crowe is alive in there," Rex said. His grin had vanished. "She can tell us how to break the binding. We won't have to kill the girl."

"Elara is dead," Cain growled. "Old gates copy voices. They wear faces. Whatever's behind that thing isn't her."

The shadow leaned closer.