Chapter 21 · The Dark Knows Her Name

The lights didn't come back.

I stood there in the dark, blood still warm on my palm, and the only thing I could hear was my own breathing. Fast. Too fast. The kind of breathing that comes right before you pass out or do something stupid.

Kira was on her knees a few feet away. I could barely see her outline, but I heard her ragged inhale, the way her hand scraped against the floor like she was trying to push herself up and failing.

"Layla." Her voice cracked. "Don't move."

I moved anyway. Two steps toward her, my sneakers crunching over broken glass. "What the hell just happened?"

"The rift opened." She coughed, and I heard the wet sound in it. Blood, maybe. "Your blood hit the crack. It recognized you."

"Recognized me?" My voice went high. "What does that even mean?"

She didn't answer. Just tried to stand again, and this time I heard her knee buckle. She went down hard.

I was moving before I thought about it. Dropped beside her, reached for her arm. "Kira—"

"Don't." She jerked away, and I felt the heat coming off her skin even through her jacket. Feverish. Wrong.