Chapter 22 · The Dead Name on the Wristband

The hand coming through the rift wore a hospital wristband.

Lucan's blood went cold. He could see the name printed in smudged black ink across the plastic. Not Ivy's name. Not anyone from this side.

Thorne, Marcus. Patient ID 4477-B.

Mira's father.

The hand was pale, knuckles scarred, fingers reaching like someone drowning. The rift pulsed around the wrist, black edges eating into the skin. Lucan's legs locked. His throat closed up. Behind him Ivy was still breathing, barely, her pulse a thin thread under his fingers. But that hand kept reaching.

He knew what it meant.

Orin hadn't killed Marcus Thorne. He'd shoved him through. Kept him on the other side, alive, a battery for the gate.

And now the gate was cracking open.

"Lucan!"

Mira's voice cut through the bone yard. She was twenty feet out, blade already drawn, her coat snapping behind her in the rift wind. Her eyes locked on the hand. Then on him.

She ran.

Lucan moved without thinking. He grabbed the wrist and pulled. The rift fought him, dragging back, and the wristband tore half off. The name was still visible.