Chapter 47 · Midnight Ambush

"Don't open that door," I said. "The killer is already inside." Silas's hand locked around my wrist before I could reach for the handle.

The bedroom door turned another inch.

Black smoke crawled through the gap and spread across the floor between our boots. It smelled like burned metal and old blood. Silas pulled me behind him, one arm barring my chest while his other hand went to the dagger at his belt.

"Stay behind me."

"You say that like I'll listen."

"Ivy."

His voice dropped low enough to shake the wall.

I hated that my body reacted before my pride did. I stopped moving. His back pressed against mine, heat cutting through the thin fabric of my dress. He had dragged me into his private quarters without asking, trapped me against the door, and spent the last five minutes treating me like a possible assassin.

Now he was putting himself between me and whatever waited inside.

That didn't make him safe.

It made him harder to hate.

The third bell rang again from inside the room.

This time, the sound came with a sharp crack.

Silas shoved the door open.

A blade flew past his head and buried itself