Chapter 17 · Hollowborn - Chapter 17: The Voice Under the Stone

The Eye was waiting.

I couldn't move. My shoulder burned where Cole's knife had gone through, blood soaking through my shirt and dripping onto the stone. The twelve pillars were screaming—actual screaming, the kind that came from mouths that had been sewn shut for years. The sound clawed at my ears and made my teeth ache.

Marcus had Mom's locket dangling from his fist. The chain was broken. The metal was glowing red where his blood had touched it.

"Tick tock, Ivy." His voice was so calm it made me want to throw up. "The Gate's getting impatient."

The Eye pulsed. It was huge now, bigger than it had been a minute ago, spreading across the floor like spilled oil. The edges of it were eating the ritual markings, turning the carved lines into smooth black glass. And in the center of it—

Mom.

Not all of her. Just pieces. I could see her hands reaching up through the surface, fingers clawing at nothing. I could see her face for half a second before it sank back down. Her mouth was open. She was trying to say something but no sound came out.

Marcus had thrown her in there.