Chapter 33 · The Bride Pays First

The words on the wall weren't just glowing anymore. They were bleeding.

I watched black liquid drip from my mother's handwriting, pooling on the stone floor like oil. The smell hit me next. Copper and rot and something else. Something that made my teeth ache.

"Mara." Ronan's voice came from behind me, low and tight. "Step back."

I didn't. Couldn't. Because the blood was spelling out new words now, letters forming in the puddle at my feet.

*The bride pays first.*

"What the hell does that mean?" My voice came out steadier than I felt. The seal was still warm in my palm. I'd just torn up a contract and gotten handed a crown in the same breath, and now my dead mother was writing me messages in blood.

Great. Normal Tuesday.

The chamber door slammed shut behind us. No wind. No guards. Just the lock clicking into place like a jaw snapping shut.

Ronan moved fast. He was at the door in two strides, shoulder hitting wood. It didn't budge.

"Ronan."

He hit it again. The frame cracked but the door held.

"Ronan, stop."

"I'm getting you out." His voice had that edge now.