Chapter 31 · Luca Opens Up

Luca's laugh cut through the chamber like broken glass.

Kai stared at the man's forearm. The Gate-mark there looked exactly like the one burning under his own ribs. Same twisted geometric pattern. Same sickly blue-black glow pulsing in time with his heartbeat.

Two marks. One gate.

"What did you just do?" Kai's voice came out flat. He was past shock now. Past fear. He'd crossed into the country where everything was already so fucked that one more nightmare didn't move the needle.

Luca rolled his sleeve higher, studying the mark like it was a new watch. "What I should have done ten years ago." He looked up, and his smile was the kind that belonged on a guy who'd just won a hand he'd been bluffing on for hours. "Your father was brilliant, you know. The Gate doesn't need one anchor. It needs two. A key and a lock. Push and pull. He volunteered to be the lock. Walked right in. Very noble."

Kai's chest tightened. The mark under his skin flared hot. "So you copied mine. Great. That doesn't—"

"Copied?" Luca laughed again, shorter this time. "No, Kai. I took half. The ritual didn't give you your father's mark.