Chapter 3

"You don't get to order me around," I snapped.

"Then keep standing there and die."

Another seal struck the outer wall. Red light crawled through the cracks.

Cain's arm locked around my waist, keeping me upright, while his other hand closed over the mark burning around our wrists.

The blood chains tightened.

His breath brushed my ear. Hot. Rough. Furious.

"What did you do?" he growled.

"I made a deal."

"You made a trap."

"Good. Then you understand it."

His claws flexed against my coat.

For one sharp second, I felt how easily he could tear through the fabric. How easily he could tear through me.

Then the entrance exploded.

Cain shoved me down and turned his body into a shield. Stone fragments skidded across his back.

He didn't even flinch.

Three figures stepped through the smoke.

Black hunting coats. Silver thread. Iron blades in one hand. White disks in the other.

The disks hummed with the same dead power that had pinned Cain beneath the altar.

The woman in front lifted hers.

"Ivy Vale," she called. "Step away from the beast. Your family wants you alive."

I pushed up on one elbow. "That makes one of us surprised."

Her mouth tightened. "Don't be stupid. We can remove you before the curse spreads."

Cain's growl rolled through the chamber.

The hunters froze.

He rose slowly, keeping me behind him. The red chain between our wrists stretched across his side like a living leash.

"Say that again," he said.

The woman aimed the white disk at his chest. "The beast stays down. You come with us, girl. Your brother signed the order himself."

My fingers dug into the stone.

"My brother signed an execution order?"

"A recovery order."

"Funny. The last recovery team tried to burn my face off."

"They were careless."

"They were family."

She stepped closer. "Silas wants the blood returned. He doesn't care if the rest of you survives."

Cain turned his head a fraction. His eyes found mine over his shoulder.

"Who is Silas?"

"The man who paid them to dump me here," I said. "The man who wants whatever this altar is hiding."

His gaze dropped to our linked wrists. The red bands pulsed beneath his skin.

"And you still think I should help you?"

"You have two choices. Help me, or let them chain you again."

The hunter raised her iron blade.

"Last warning. Release the girl."

Cain smiled without humor.

"Come take her."

The first hunter threw the white disk.

Cain shoved me sideways. The disk struck his shoulder, and pale fire raced across his body.

His knees buckled.

"Cain!"

"Don't touch me." His voice came out strangled.

I ignored him and grabbed the disk.

It burned my palm. The red chain flashed between us, and the weapon cracked down the middle.

The hunter stared. "What the hell—"

I drove my elbow into her throat.

She dropped with a wet gasp. Her blade clattered across the floor.

The second hunter lunged.

Cain caught him by the collar and slammed him into a pillar. Stone shook. The man's boots left the ground.

"You used a seal on me," Cain said. "You don't get to complain about rough treatment."

The hunter clawed at his wrist. "You're weakening."

"Not fast enough."

Cain threw him into the third hunter.

They crashed together, but the woman was already moving. She pulled a silver spike from her belt and drove it toward my ribs.

I twisted.

The spike tore through my sleeve instead of my side.

"Hold still, little heiress."

"Call me that again and lose the hand."

I grabbed her wrist and kicked the back of her knee. She dropped, dragging me down with her.

My shoulder struck the floor. The spike hovered above my chest.

Cain crossed the distance in one violent step.

His hand closed around the woman's throat.

"Move that blade," he said, "and I break your neck."

She smiled through her pain. "You can't. The girl dies, you die."

Cain's fingers tightened.

The chain around our wrists flared red.

Pain punched through my chest. Cain jerked like someone had hooked him beneath the ribs.

"Let her go," I said.

His eyes cut to me. "You give orders now?"

"Yes. Let her go."

"She tried to kill you."

"And she failed. I want answers before you turn her into paste."

For a moment, he didn't move.

His thumb pressed against the woman's pulse. I felt the pressure in my own throat. Not his hand. Not exactly. The bond copied him badly, sending every warning through my skin.

Cain leaned closer instead. His shadow covered me. His face stopped inches from mine, his breath hot against my cheek.

"You like pushing until something breaks," he murmured.

"You like pretending you're the only one with teeth."

His gaze dropped to my mouth, then snapped back to my eyes.

The pause lasted less than a heartbeat.

It still made my pulse jump.

His jaw tightened, as if he hated that he noticed.

"Tell me what you want," he said.

"Your strength. Your protection. And a way out of this place."

"You want a weapon."

"I want my family on their knees."

"Same thing."

"Then stop acting offended and listen."

Cain tightened his grip on the hunter's throat. "You heard her. Talk."

The woman coughed. "The order came from House Vale. Three towns are under lockdown. Every road out of the Wastes is sealed. Anyone helping Ivy will be marked a traitor."

"How many hunters?" I asked.

"Enough."

"That isn't a number."

"Two squads at the north ridge. Another's moving toward the altar. More are coming from the eastern road."

Cain's expression changed.

Not fear.

Calculation.

"How long?" he asked.

The hunter glanced at the broken entrance. "Less than ten minutes."

A deep horn sounded outside.

Once.

Then again, closer.

The remaining hunters began to rise.

Cain threw the woman aside and caught my wrist. His grip was hot and firm. The chain between us dragged tight, forcing our shoulders together.

"We're leaving," he said.

"You said you couldn't go far."

"I can go far enough to kill the next group."

"And after that?"

"After that, you keep me alive."

He pulled me toward a narrow split in the altar wall.

I dug my heels into the floor. "No."

Cain stopped so fast I hit his back.

He turned. "No?"

"We don't run blind. This is your prison. You know the exits. I know what my family wants. We need rules."

"Rules? Hunters are breaking through the door."

"Exactly. You want me to trust a monster who was just trapped by a dinner plate. I want something stronger than your mood."

His eyes narrowed.

"Careful, Ivy."

"Make me."

The red chain pulled between us.

He stepped closer. My coat brushed his chest. One of his hands planted beside my head against the altar wall. The other still held my wrist.

His body heat crowded the narrow space between us.

"You think a contract will make me obedient?"

"No. I think it'll make you honest."

"You don't know what a blood contract costs."

"Then explain it."

He lowered his head until his mouth was near my ear.

"A real contract doesn't ask for obedience. It takes payment."

"What payment?"

"Pain when either of us breaks a command. Strength when one of us gives it freely. Memories if the bond needs proof."

I stared at him. "Memories?"

"You want my power. The bond takes something equal."

"From me or from you?"

"Both."

The hunters shouted behind us. Metal struck stone.

Cain's fingers tightened around mine.

"Choose," he said. "We fight here until the seals drain me, or we bind the deal properly and use the bond to break through."

"What happens if I write the command?"

"You don't write it. The altar does."

"And if it decides I should die?"

"Then I die with you."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one you're getting."

He turned toward the altar.

I grabbed his sleeve. "Wait. One more rule."

Cain looked down at my hand. "You really enjoy this."

"I enjoy not being owned."

His mouth twitched. Not a smile. Almost one.

"Say it."

"You don't touch my mind without permission."

"The contract may need memories."

"Then you ask first."

"And if I refuse?"

"You don't get my blood."

His eyes sharpened.

Outside, boots pounded closer.

"Fine," he said. "I ask. You answer. No lies."

"You first."

"I don't bargain with prey."

"Then die alone."

The growl that left him vibrated through my bones.

"Don't call yourself prey in front of me."

The words hit harder than they should've.

His hand slid from my wrist to my palm. His thumb pressed over the cut I'd made earlier.

Blood welled again.

"You want this?" he asked.

"I want out."

"That's not what I asked."

He lifted my hand between us. His gaze stayed on my face.

Waiting.

Heat crawled up my arm. My pulse sped beneath his fingers.

"I want the contract," I said.

"Say the rest."

"I want you to help me destroy the people who sent me here."

"And what do I get?"

"Freedom from the altar."

His smile turned sharp. "You can't give me that."

"Then I give you a chance at it."

The next horn blast shook dust from the ceiling.

Cain's eyes went black at the edges.

"A chance," he repeated.

"Take it or don't. But decide now."

He pulled a small iron knife from his belt and cut across his own palm. Dark blood slid over his fingers.

My stomach twisted.

Not from fear.

The bond reacted, dragging heat through my veins.

Cain noticed.

Of course he noticed.

"Still want to pretend this doesn't affect you?" he asked.

"Still want to pretend you don't enjoy having leverage?"

"I enjoy winning."

"You haven't won."

"Not yet."

He pressed his bleeding palm to mine.

The altar woke.

Red light burst beneath our hands. Lines carved into the stone lit one after another, forming a circle around our feet.

The old chains around Cain's wrists pulled tight.

Then cracked.

He sucked in a breath.

"What did it take?" I asked.

"Not finished."

"What did it take?"

His gaze went distant for half a second.

Then he looked back at me.

"A name."

"Whose?"

"Mine."

The stone beneath us split with a grinding shriek. Red symbols climbed the altar wall. The blood chain wrapped around our joined hands and burned a mark into both palms.

Cain's shoulders jerked.

"Don't let go," he said.

"You said you hated being controlled."

"I hate dying more."

The three hunters rushed through the entrance.

Cain shoved me behind him, but the contract yanked me back to his side.

"I said stay behind me," he snapped.

"The bond says otherwise."

"Then stay close."

"That sounds dangerously like concern."

His arm came around my waist as a seal flew over our heads. His claws struck the air, ripping the seal apart before it hit the wall.

The impact drove us both into the altar.

My back hit stone. His chest pressed against mine. His hand braced beside my shoulder, keeping his weight off me. His face was close enough for me to feel every rough breath.

"You keep getting in my way," he said.

"You keep standing where I need to be."

"You could've died."

"So could you."

"That's different."

"Why?"

His eyes dropped to the red mark on my palm.

"Because you don't get to die before I decide what you owe me."

The possessive edge in his voice snapped through me.

Terrifying.

Impossible to ignore.

I swallowed. "You don't own me."

His gaze lifted to mine.

"Not yet."

The words landed between us.

For one breath, neither of us moved. His thumb brushed the inside of my wrist where the bond pulsed.

Barely a touch.

My entire arm tightened.

Then the altar screamed.

The red circle flared. A violent pull tore Cain away from me.

He hit one knee.

The anti-beast seals outside the chamber blazed white. Cain's skin went gray beneath the dust. The claws on his right hand shortened, then vanished.

"Cain."

"Don't say my name like that."

"Like what?"