Chapter 24 · The Name He Buried

"Don't touch him!" I slammed my bloodied palm against the seventh gate, but the man wearing Ronan's face had already reached through the split.

His fingers hooked into the silver line between Ronan and me.

The covenant cinched around my ribs.

Ronan caught me from behind. His chest hit my back, hot through both our clothes.

"Mara, move."

"Which one of you is real?" My voice cracked across the chamber. "I'm done guessing."

The false Ronan smiled through the opening.

Same black hair. Same hard mouth. Same gray eyes.

The smile was wrong.

Too calm. Too pleased.

"You know me," he said. "You always did."

Ronan's arm locked around my waist. "Don't listen to him."

"That advice would've helped before you rejected me on live television."

His hold tightened. "Mara—"

"No. You don't get to use that voice and expect me to fall in line."

The gate shuddered beneath my hand. Metal screamed somewhere below us. The floor tipped, and my boots slid across the wet stone.

The false Ronan pulled harder on the covenant.

Pain ripped through my shoulder and shot down my spine. The silver mark around my wrist flared white.

"Let her go," the false one ordered.