Chapter 19 · The Debt Has Teeth

The iron door wasn't supposed to be there.

I stared at the crest burned into the metal—the same lines that had just exploded out of my skin—and my legs didn't want to hold me up anymore. Dust hung in the air from the blast. Half the basement wall was gone. Vivienne's wolves had stopped mid-attack, everyone frozen like someone hit pause.

Darius moved first. He stepped between me and the door, one arm out like he could block whatever was coming next. His voice came out low. "Isla. Don't touch it."

"Don't touch it?" I couldn't stop the laugh. It sounded wrong. "It's got my blood on it. I think we're past don't touch."

Kyle groaned from where he'd hit the floor. Blood soaked through his shirt, but he was already trying to sit up. "What the hell is that?"

No one answered. Vivienne's wolves backed toward the stairs, eyes shifting between gold and human, like they couldn't decide whether to run or finish the job. One of them—older, scarred across his jaw—kept his stare locked on me. Not on Darius. Me.

Vivienne's voice cut through the dust.