Chapter 20 · The Throne at Bloodport

Nia screamed once, and the black hand dragged her three feet across the stone.

I grabbed her wrist before the gate could swallow her. Ronan caught me around the waist a second later, his claws digging through my coat as the moonfire crawled over his skin.

"Let go of me!" I shouted.

"I'm trying to keep you from going in after her!"

"Then hold me tighter!"

The hand inside the black gate jerked again. Nia's fingers slipped in mine.

Her face hit the floor. Blood ran from her nose and splashed across the old symbols carved into the stone. The symbols lit up like someone had poured hot coal under them.

The entire ruin shook.

"Mara!" Nia gasped. "Don't let it take me!"

"It won't."

I locked both hands around her wrist and planted my boots against the cracked floor. My shoulder screamed. The gate pulled harder.

Ronan's breath burned against my ear. He smelled like smoke, blood, and cold metal. The moonfire had spread from his hand to his throat. Black lines crawled under his skin.

"Mara," he said, too low. "You need to cut the bond."

"No."

"The fire is feeding through it."

"Good. Let it feed.