Chapter 19 · The Kill Code

"Take your hand off the core, Dorian. Now."

The black stone pulsed beneath his palm.

Blood slipped from the cut across his hand, ran between his fingers, and vanished into the control plate.

The core drank it.

"I'm trying," he snapped.

"Try harder."

"Mara, back up."

I spun on him. "You don't get to order me around after dragging me into this room."

Red light sliced across his cheekbone. Sweat darkened his temple. Beneath his collar, the thin silver mark burned like a live wire.

My mark.

It had started burning the second we'd stepped into the old shield chamber. His seal had answered mine. Now both symbols pulsed together, feeding the black core between us.

The chamber shook hard enough to rattle my teeth.

A metal door slammed behind me.

Then another.

I turned.

Three council guards dropped iron bars across the exits. Their weapons rose in perfect sync.

"Nobody leaves," Captain Rusk said. "Not until the core is cleared."

"Cleared of what?"

His gaze slid to the black glass hovering over the control plate.

"Contamination.