Chapter 17 · Every Gate Is Open

The ring burned so hard I dropped to one knee.

Not dramatic. Not cute. My whole hand slammed into the concrete floor, and the smell hit a second later. Burned skin. Burned metal. Burned whatever the hell my life had turned into.

Every lock in Gideon's underground vault started screaming.

Not alarms. Locks.

Hundreds of them lined the steel shelves around us. Old brass padlocks. Iron chest locks. Tiny silver things inside glass cases. A jail-cell lock bigger than my head. They all rattled at once, teeth grinding behind metal.

Jonah made a wet choking sound behind me.

I spun around so fast my shoulder popped.

He was still on the floor where Carson had laid him, one arm bent under his body. The black mark on his wrist had crawled past his elbow now. It looked like spilled ink under his skin, except it moved. Thin black veins dragging themselves toward his throat.

“Jonah.” I crawled to him. “Hey. Hey, look at me.”

His eyelids fluttered.

“Mi?” His voice barely came out.

“I’m here.”

The ring flashed again.

Pain shot up my arm.