Chapter 22 · I Was Never the Bride

Silas's hand is cold around my wrist. The blood from the cut Elias made is already drying sticky between his fingers.

"Let go." I try to twist free but his grip tightens. Not enough to hurt. Just enough to keep me exactly where I am.

"You don't want me to do that." His voice is calm. Too calm. Like he's talking someone off a ledge. "Look at your hand, Mara."

I look. The blood isn't just blood anymore. It's moving. Crawling up toward my palm in thin black lines like someone's drawing a map under my skin.

"What the hell is that?"

"Proof." Silas pulls me back a step. Away from the door. The black door. The one that's been humming since Lena screamed my name. "You were always the Warden. You just didn't know it yet."

I can still hear Nina. She's on the other side of the door. Not screaming. Worse. She's crying. The kind of crying that means she's past asking for help. The kind that means she thinks no one's coming.

"I don't care what I am." I yank my arm again. Silas doesn't budge. "Nina's in there."

"Nina's bait.