Chapter 24 · He hated more that Sloane’s hand kept brushing

He hated more that Sloane’s hand kept brushing his whenever the stairs narrowed.

At the bottom, a steel door blocked the way.

Sloane pulled a key from her belt. The lock rejected it.

“Open,” she said.

The door stayed shut.

“Your house doesn’t like you anymore,” Kael said.

“Try not to sound pleased.”

“I’m working on it.”

She slammed the key into the lock again. Nothing.

The assassin leaned against the wall, pale but smiling. “It recognizes the new owner.”

Sloane turned. “What did you say?”

“Your family power changed hands.”

“Whose hands?”

He looked at Kael.

Kael’s stomach dropped. “Don’t.”

The assassin lifted his bloody fingers toward the mark on Kael’s neck. “His.”

Sloane’s stare landed on Kael.

The pact pulsed between them.

Once.

Twice.

The steel door unlocked with a heavy clunk.

Kael kept his hand on the rifle. “Sloane.”

“Don’t move.”

“You keep saying that when you’re about to do something stupid.”

Her eyes stayed on his. “If I ask you to trust me, will you?”

“No.”

“Good.”

She opened the door.

A figure waited on the other side.

Not a guard.

Not Victor’s soldier.

A woman in a black coat stood beneath the red emergency lamp.