Chapter 36 · Untitled Chapter

"Get away from him, Ivy!" Cain's voice ripped through the ruined altar.

Silas had one hand buried in Cain's chest.

Not through skin. Through shadow.

Black veins crawled from Silas's fingers across Cain's ribs, dragging strips of dark light out of him. Cain knelt on the cracked stone, claws carving grooves into the floor.

I'd seen Cain bleed. I'd seen him tear through hunters twice his size.

I'd never seen him lose.

"Let him go," I said.

Silas turned his head. Blood shone across his smile. "You still think you get to give orders?"

"I think you should stop touching what's mine."

Cain's head snapped toward me.

For one second, his eyes burned gold.

Then the bond between us pulled tight beneath my ribs.

Silas felt it. His smile widened. "There it is. The little queen finally found her crown."

"I found your weakness." I wiped blood from my mouth. "The crown's just a bonus."

His fingers dug deeper into Cain's chest.

Cain's shoulders jerked. A raw sound scraped out of him.

I moved.

Silas lifted his free hand.

A red wall slammed into me and threw me across the altar. My back hit a stone pillar.