Chapter 13 · The Gatekeeper's Gambit - Chapter 13: The Black Door Knows Him

The black door swallowed them whole.

Mo Han hit stone floor hard enough to knock the air out of his lungs. His vision swam. Cold pressed in from all sides, the kind that had nothing to do with temperature and everything to do with something very old paying attention.

Su Jin landed beside him, already on her feet. "What the hell did you do?"

"Saved your life." He pushed himself up. His hands were shaking. "You're welcome."

The space they'd landed in didn't follow normal rules. Walls curved away into darkness that felt thick, almost solid. The only light came from the door itself—still standing behind them, but now it pulsed with dull red veins that ran through the black wood like infected blood vessels.

Yun Sheng hung in the center of the room.

Not standing. Not floating. Hung. Threads of shadow wrapped around her wrists and throat, pulling her toward the far wall where the darkness was deepest. Her eyes were open but unfocused. Blood ran from her nose.

"Yun Sheng!" Mo Han started forward.

The door spoke.

"Mark-holder." The voice came from everywhere and nowhere.