Chapter 32 · The Seventh Gate

"You don't know that."

"The Gatekeeper does."

"She also said the council built the locks. Maybe she doesn't know what happens when somebody breaks them."

The old woman slammed her staff into the floor.

"The bond is already fractured," she snapped. "You can't force it back together without paying for it."

"We've paid enough," I said.

"Not yet."

The core twisted.

A ring of white light snapped around our wrists and yanked us forward. My shoulder slammed into Ronan's chest. His free hand hit the stone beside us, stopping our fall.

"Damn it!" he barked.

I grabbed the broken covenant mark with both hands and ripped it away from the core.

It came loose like burning wire.

Pain tore through my palm. My knees hit the floor.

"Mara!"

I held the strip of moonlight between us. It writhed across my skin, hot and alive, trying to crawl back into the core.

"You want to erase the bond?" I gasped. "Fine. Look at it first."

"Put it down."

"Say it."

His jaw locked. "Mara, put it down."

"Say you never let me go.