Chapter 14 · Moon-Iron Kiss

Jonah stopped screaming.

That was worse.

The black thing on his chest had swallowed the sound right out of him. It spread under the straps holding him to the altar, shiny and wet like oil, except oil did not crawl over skin on its own.

“Jonah!” I lunged forward.

Gideon’s gun clicked.

I froze with one foot off the ground.

My father stood between me and the altar. Same dark hair Jonah had. Same crooked nose I saw every damn morning in my own mirror. His hand shook around the gun, but the barrel didn’t.

Behind him, Sera smiled like this was dinner theater and she’d paid extra for front-row seats.

“Don’t,” Gideon said.

My laugh came out cracked. “You don’t get to say that to me.”

“Mia.”

“Don’t call me that like you know me.”

The chamber bucked under our feet.

Dust spilled from the ceiling. The black moon hanging over Jonah gave a slow, ugly pulse.