Chapter 26 · The Shard in His Heart

The boy standing at the bottom of the stairs looks exactly like the photo Evelyn kept in her jacket for six years. Same dark hair. Same narrow shoulders. Same scar above his left eyebrow from the time he fell off the garden wall.

But his eyes are wrong.

They're black. Not brown. Black all the way through, like someone poured ink into them and let it set.

"Finn," Evelyn breathes.

He takes a step back. "Don't."

Nolan's hand closes around her wrist. "That's not your brother."

"Yes it is." Her voice cracks. "Finn, it's me. It's Evie."

Finn shakes his head. His hands are shaking. "You need to leave. Right now."

"I'm not leaving you again."

"You don't get it." Finn's voice breaks on the last word. "He's in here. He's been in here since they brought me down."

Mara moves up beside Evelyn, her knife already out. "Who's in there?"

"Silas." Finn's breath comes faster. "He put something in me. A shard. It's connected to the core and every time someone breaks a contract up there, it grows. I can feel it. I can feel him."

Evelyn's pact mark flares hot against her ribs.