Chapter 15 · Nine Minutes to Die

The black chain wrapped around Lena's wrist like a brand.

Rowan hit the cage bars with both hands. "Let her go."

His sister's head snapped up. Her eyes weren't hers anymore. The pupils had gone wide and black, swallowing the green he'd known his whole life.

"Rowan Vale." The voice coming out of Lena's mouth was wrong. Too smooth. Too old. "You've become quite the problem."

Crowe.

"Get out of her." Rowan's fingers burned where the iron bars scorched his palms. The cell was small, stone on three sides, bars on the fourth. Lena stood in the center like a puppet on strings he couldn't see.

"Or what?" Lena's mouth smiled. Her hand lifted, the chain sliding up her forearm like a living thing. "You'll die again? That's all you do."

Mara's boots hit the floor behind him. "Step back."

"No." Rowan didn't turn. "He's in her head."

"I can see that." Mara's hand closed on his shoulder, yanked him back a step. Her grip was iron. "And you're about to do something stupid."

"She's my sister."

"She's bait." Mara moved between him and the cage. Her coat was still wet from the street. Her braid dripped onto the stone.