Chapter 16 · The Price of Her Blood

"Get out of my head, Cain. Now."

His hand clamped around my wrist before I could pull away.

Heat shot up my arm. My knees buckled, and my back slammed against the black stone behind me. Cain stepped into the space between me and the altar wall, trapping me there.

"You opened the bond," he said.

"I opened nothing. You dragged me in."

"You reached for me first."

"I reached for the knife. You happened to be attached to it."

His gray eyes dropped to my palm. The altar had cut me, but the wound was already closing. A thin line of red still crossed my skin.

The mark beneath Cain's shirt pulsed in answer.

The stone vibrated against my spine.

Red symbols crawled across the wall, one after another. Fresh scratches appeared under invisible claws. Old blood lifted from the altar and drew a circle around our boots.

Cain tightened his grip.

"Don't fight the pull."

"You don't get to give me orders."

"I do when your panic can tear us both apart."

"Then let go."

"No.