Chapter 15 · Nia's Empty Room

The door slammed shut between me and Nia.

I hit it with both hands. "Nia!"

Her cough came through the stone, thin and ragged. Then nothing.

"Move." Ronan grabbed my shoulder.

I spun on him. "Take your hand off me."

"Mara, that door is warded."

"My sister is behind it."

"And if you break it wrong, you bury her with us."

His voice stayed low, but his fingers were shaking. Blood ran from the arrow wound in his side, darkening his shirt. His mouth still carried the red marks from where his teeth had cut my wrist.

Five minutes ago, he had almost torn my throat open.

Then I said his name, and the monster wearing his skin had let go.

I hated that it worked.

I hated even more that I knew his hands were the only hands in this palace strong enough to open the door.

The silver pendant at my neck jerked hard enough to bruise my collarbone. Its little moon-shaped face split down the middle. A line of white light crawled across the stone.

Ronan stared at it. The black key fused into his palm answered with a sharp pulse.

"Back up," he said.

"No."

"Mara."