Chapter 25 · Take His Life

Milo’s boots scraped across the black stone. The fire creature tightened one hand around his throat, and the line of orange energy in its other palm snapped brighter.

Every light in the underground chamber went red.

“Nora!” Caden grabbed for my arm. “Don’t move.”

The thing wearing my mother’s face smiled at me.

Milo hung from its fist, pale and choking. He kicked once. Twice. The sound barely came out of him.

Across the chamber, the burning line ran through the floor and vanished into the walls. I could feel it under my feet. It wasn’t just heat. It was pressure. A pulse. The whole city was tied to that thing, and every beat dragged more power toward the core.

Selene’s voice came through the broken speakers above us.

“Choose, Nora. Your brother, or everyone else.”

“Go to hell,” I said.

“Gladly. But Milo is going first.”

The creature’s face changed.

My mother’s eyes melted into Caden’s cold gray stare. Then Milo’s. Then mine.

Caden stepped in front of me. “Selene, release him.”

“Oh, Caden. Still pretending you’re in charge?” Her laugh crackled through the speakers. “That’s adorable.”

The red mark around Caden’s wrist flared.