Chapter 7 · Beast in the Vault

The black key jumped in my palm like it had a pulse.

Not a cute little twitch either. It slammed against my fingers hard enough to hurt, then yanked toward the far wall of the vault.

Carson caught my wrist before it could drag me after it. “Don’t.”

“Great advice,” I snapped. “Tell the creepy murder key.”

The vault lights blinked red.

Then Jonah’s voice came through the busted speaker over the door.

“Mia? Mia, say something. The system just kicked me into a new layer.”

My stomach dropped. “Jonah. Are you okay?”

There was a scrape. A sharp breath. Then Sera Voss laughed softly in the background.

“Your brother is fine,” she said. “For the moment.”

I stepped toward the speaker. Carson’s hand tightened around my wrist.

“Let him go,” I said.

“Oh, I don’t think so.” Sera sounded bored, which somehow made me want to break every tooth in her head. “He’s much more valuable than I expected.”

The words on the wall shifted.

ACCESS PATHWAY AVAILABLE.

LIVING KEY REQUIRED.

JONAH MERCER.

A thin line of blue light crawled across the floor.