Chapter 25 · Royal Blood Behind the Door

The red key's burning my palm. I don't care. I'm staring at the parchment, at the vial glowing silver in my other hand, and my brain's trying to catch up with what I just read.

Blood debt breaks or binds forever.

I get one shot.

Darius is on the floor behind me, breathing like he just ran ten miles. His eyes are still gold but the pupils are coming back. He's fighting the shift so hard I can hear his bones grinding.

"Isla." Kyle's voice cracks. "We need to move. Now."

Another scream upstairs. Closer this time. The lights are still out and the only thing I can see by is the key and the vial, both throwing these harsh red and silver shadows across the concrete.

"What's in the vial?" I ask.

Kyle doesn't answer. He's looking at Darius, then at me, then at the stairs like he's calculating how long we've got.

"Kyle."

"I don't know." He crouches next to Darius, checks his pulse. "But if Vivienne's here for it, we can't let her have it."

Darius groans. His hand shoots out and grabs my ankle. Not hard. Just enough to stop me from moving.

"Don't," he rasps.