Chapter 14 · Hollowborn - Chapter 14: The War File Is Lying

Cole's body slammed into the altar edge hard enough I heard bone crack.

The Gate yanked him back like a fishing line going taut. His fingers clawed at stone but there was nothing left to grab. Just black water flooding up through the cracks, thick as oil, cold enough I felt it from ten feet away.

"Ivy!" Layla shoved me forward. "The blood key. Now."

I didn't think. My palm was already burning, the cuts Layla made still wide open and dripping red onto the altar symbols. I lunged, caught Cole's wrist right as the Gate tried to suck him under.

His skin felt wrong. Too cold. Too thin. Like touching paper soaked through.

"Don't let go," he said, and his voice cracked in the middle, split between his real tone and my mom's. "Ivy, whatever happens—"

"Shut up." I dug my nails in and pulled. The blood key flared hot enough to sear my bones. The Gate screamed back, a sound like grinding metal and drowning cats, and the black water surged higher.

Layla knelt beside the altar, hands flat on the stone, whispering something fast and sharp in a language I didn't know.