Chapter 16 · The Shadow Price

"Don't let go!"

Cael's hand clamped around my wrist, yanking me back just as the bell shadow snapped shut. An inch from my fingers. A sliver of unnatural cold still bit into my skin.

"You walked right into it," he snarled. His voice sounded shredded, like he'd been screaming in his sleep. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was thinking you were about to pass out!" I snapped back. "You're burning up, Cael. Let go, you're hurting me."

He didn't. His grip only tightened. I looked down and saw black veins crawling up his forearm, pulsing in sync with the dim bell light. His skin was searing.

"I'm fine," he gritted out.

"You look like you're dying. Again."

"I'm not dying. It's the pact." He finally dropped my wrist and doubled over, hands on his knees. Sweat dripped off his chin onto the stone. "It lets me step through. But it doesn't like it when I don't obey."

"Obey who? Seline?"

"Who else?" He tried to laugh, but it turned into a hacking cough. "She told me to bring you to the master bell. Alive. I said no. So this happens."

Another pulse ripped through him.