Chapter 26 · Turn It Back

The black key turned under my blood.

Not fast. Not dramatic at first.

Just one ugly little click from the center of Vera's ritual circle.

Then the floor moved under my boots.

Micah made a sound behind her. Not a scream. Worse. The kind of breath somebody lets out when they know exactly what's coming and they've been scared of it for years.

"Nora," he said.

Vera's arm locked around his throat harder. Her knife stayed buried shallow under his ribs, right where his shirt had already gone dark and wet. "Don't move. You move, he opens faster."

"Get your hand off him."

My voice came out low. Too low.

Blood ran off my palm and down my wrist. It dripped from my elbow onto the stone. Every drop made the black key twitch.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Elias jerked against the iron restraints across the room. Chains bit into both wrists, his chest, one ankle. Vera had cut him across the side, and blood soaked the waistband of his jeans.

He looked pale enough to drop dead standing up.

Still, his eyes found mine.

"Nora," he said. "Don't give it anything else."

"Oh, he can talk.