Chapter 13 · The Blood Sanctuary

"Trust me or we die in this cage," Viviane hissed. Her nails dug into my wrist, grinding against the bone.

Her breath hit my face—hot, fast, panicked. This wasn't the cold Inquisitor I knew. This was a woman terrified of the dark.

"Yeah? That's the plan?" I snapped. "Trust the convict? You're the one who put me on the block, remember?"

"And you're the one I just bled out for! So shut up and trust me back!"

BOOM.

The vault door slammed behind us, shaking dust from the ceiling. No handle. No light. Just chains. And blood.

So much blood.

The walls were carved with circles—not holy sigils, but forbidden ones. The kind they burn you for even drawing. They pulsed. Like veins. Like the room was breathing.

"Silas, look," Viviane whispered.

I looked. My stomach dropped through the floor.

Bones. Dozens of them. Chained to the walls in a perfect circle around a throne made of more bone. Bishop robes hung off the center seat. Gold trim. Rotted.

Every single skeleton on the wall had my face.

Same jaw. Same scar over the left eyebrow from when I was fourteen.