Chapter 16 · Dad's Voice Behind the Door

The dais was still warm under Kai's boots. Blood-oath stone, Vera had called it, and yeah, he could believe that now. The whole platform hummed like a dying refrigerator, low enough that he felt it more than heard it, and the air smelled like copper and burnt hair.

Vera was three steps ahead, crouched next to the carved seal they'd pried up five minutes ago. Her fingers worked the edge of the hatch, nails scraping stone, and Kai could see the white of her knuckles even in the dim glow of the mark under his ribs. The seventh door was real. It was right here. And if the recording was right, Dad had gone through it and come back.

Vera's hand slipped. She hissed something sharp under her breath and pulled back, shaking out her wrist. Kai moved without thinking, dropping next to her and wedging his fingers into the gap she'd started. The stone was cold on this side, colder than it should've been, and the hum got louder the moment he touched it. His mark flared hot in response, that sick-sweet burn he'd learned to lean into, and the hatch shifted. Just an inch.