Chapter 35 · The Blood Order

"Move away from the core, Rayne. Now."

He stopped with one hand still pressed against the glowing metal.

The blood-light crawled up his wrist, thin red lines slipping under his skin before snapping back into the core. Rayne jerked away. The chamber answered with a hard metallic crack.

Both pups stirred against my chest.

"Sera," Rayne said, low and sharp. "Get behind me."

"You don't give me orders anymore."

I shifted the blanket higher around the pups and pulled the knife from my boot. My legs were shaking from the bridge collapse, but my grip wasn't.

Rayne's eyes dropped to the blade.

"You're pointing that at me?"

"You put your hand on the blood record. It rejected you. Then it showed your name under a sealed father line." I stepped between him and the core. "So yes. I'm pointing it at you."

Around us, Ironfang soldiers raised their rifles. Dust fell from the broken ceiling in small, gritty streams. The air tasted like burned metal, blood, and the sharp chemical stink leaking from the ruined growth chambers.

One of the pups made a weak sound.

Rayne's head turned toward it before he could stop himself.

I saw that look.