Chapter 26 · The Ring Was Never a Key

Cass woke up with his hand on fire.

Not burning. Just hot, like someone had wrapped his fingers around a torch and told him to hold still. The ring sat on his fourth finger, silver band gone dark, and the seal underneath the tower was humming so loud he could feel it in his teeth.

Mara was three feet away, knife out, eyes on his hand.

"Don't move," she said.

He wasn't planning to. His ribs still hurt from where Quill had shoved him into the wall, and his mouth tasted like copper and bad decisions. The courtyard was empty now. Quill had vanished the second the bell rang, which meant she'd gotten what she wanted or she was waiting for him to do something stupid.

Usually both.

"Mara—"

"Shut up." She took a step closer. The knife didn't waver. "That ring. When did it start doing that?"

Cass looked down. The band was glowing now, faint but steady, like a coal that wouldn't go out. He could see the edges of the engraving his father had always told him not to touch. Old script. Family mark.